The FCC approach to a proposed 900 MHz realignment relies on negotiations between licensees to make 6 MHz available for broadband services and technologies, according to the May meeting item draft released Wednesday. The draft order and NPRM on regulatory fees meantime said foreign-licensed satellite operators argued a "parade of horribles" if the FCC begins charging them regulatory fees, but they were unconvincing. Also released were orders on ending the requirement broadcasters publish application notices in local newspapers and allow for online notice though links to actual FCC databases, and expanding use of earth stations in motion (ESIM).

T-Mobile signed a three-year agreement to lease 600 MHz spectrum from entities controlled by Columbia Capital, and a similar deal is likely to follow with Dish Network, LightShed’s Walter Piecyk wrote investors Friday. Leasing is preferable because of T-Mobile’s “current leverage” ahead of the citizens broadband radio service and C-band auctions, the analyst said. Leasing spectrum means it can be “deployed in a matter of days,” he said. T-Mobile didn't comment Monday.

Meetings continued on sharing the 6 GHz band with Wi-Fi, a week before a commissioner vote on an order and Further NPRM. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai spoke with National Spectrum Management Association officials this week about their concerns, said a filing posted in docket 18-295. The filing was among more than a dozen that popped up Thursday as parties made closing arguments.

Low-power and TV translator stations can start getting reimbursed for expenses for being displaced by the post-incentive auction repack, said a public notice Thursday from the FCC Media Bureau and Incentive Auction Task Force. Stations “may immediately begin submitting documentation of actual expenses incurred for approval to be drawn down against their individual allocations,” blogged IATF Chair Jean Kiddoo and Deputy Chair Hillary DeNigro. “It is important to make an initial allocation promptly and without waiting for greater visibility into any future changes so that LPTV/Translator stations can begin to be reimbursed for their expenses, which in some cases have already been incurred,” the PN said.

Anecdotal evidence suggests people are heeding government guidance and staying home, T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray blogged Tuesday. In New York City, the carrier is seeing an 86% increase in subscribers connecting to cellsites only in their primary location. The San Francisco Bay Area has a 77% increase “and we’re seeing similar patterns across the country,” Ray said. People are texting more and playing videogames, he said: Videogame traffic is up 45%. “While overall data traffic is higher, the overall contribution to total network loading has been relatively minor," the CTO wrote. That mobile data and Wi-Fi traffic are soaring during the pandemic shows why AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile were “keen to borrow fallow spectrum” from Dish Network, New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin wrote investors. “AT&T is in the process of increasing its capacity by 60% with its own new spectrum; if Verizon and T-Mobile are seeing a 40% increase in mobile traffic, with no new spectrum of their own to bring to bear, we would assume their networks would be showing strain,” the analyst said: Dish’s spectrum may prove important “beyond the next 60 days” and loans may be converted to leases. In-home data usage this month through March 17 was up 18% from the same period a year earlier, said Comscore Tuesday. Mobile phones, smart speakers, connected TVs and streaming boxes had the biggest increases, it said: "If the current quarantines continue across the country, we expect this upward data usage trend to continue.” The deployment of borrowed spectrum is having a noticeable effect, based on new data from Opensignal, Lightshed’s Walter Piecyk told investors. T-Mobile “doubled the amount of 600 MHz spectrum deployed for LTE in the top 100 markets, on average to 20 MHz from 10 MHz” and “quadrupled deployments to 40 MHz," the analyst wrote, "in markets like New York, Boston, and Salt Lake City.”

Telecom and tech continued responding to COVID-19. Actions included moving to telework and the cancellation or postponement of events, or moving them virtual.

Sprint temporarily closed 71% of its retail locations and cut back store hours in those remaining open, in response to the spread of COVID-19, it said Tuesday. New store hours are Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.

The COVID-19 pandemic is clouding the outlook for the wireless industry in coming months, with the government asking people to stay home and carriers temporarily closing many retail outlets, analysts said. Meanwhile, the FCC gave T-Mobile special temporary authority Sunday to use additional spectrum in the 600 MHz band for 60 days to help it meet increased customer demand for broadband during the pandemic.

With the FCC expected in April to tackle order on the 6 GHz band, CTIA remains committed to licensed use of part of the band, Jen Oberhausen, director-regulatory affairs, said during a Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council teleconference Thursday. CTIA is fighting what some think is a losing battle to get the FCC to reconsider a plan to open all the spectrum for unlicensed use (see 2003050058).

The FCC is expected to approve an NPRM Friday, pushed by Microsoft, which would allow white space devices to operate at higher power levels in less congested areas. There likely won't be major changes from Chairman Ajit Pai's proposals (see 2002060013), industry and FCC officials said in interviews. The biggest change is expected to be inclusion of a footnote, which says channels 36 and 37 issues needs to be addressed separately, they said.