With less than two weeks before the June 7 commissioners’ meeting, how the votes will shape up on the high-band Further NPRM (see 1805160051) remains unclear. The draft NPRM proposes to eliminate the pre-auction limit of 1250 MHz on the amount of millimeter-wave spectrum in the 28 GHz, 37 GHz and 39 GHz bands that any party can buy at auction. FCC Democrats historically favored aggregation limits, usually opposed by Republicans. FCC Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel is still studying the draft and has reached no conclusions, industry and FCC officials said Friday. The item is one of 12 on one of the biggest agendas in a long time for an FCC open meeting.

Broadcasters need to move as quickly as possible to transition to ATSC 3.0 or they're in danger of losing their spectrum and market share to other industries, said FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly and Spectrum Consortium President John Hane in separate speeches Thursday to the ATSC Next Gen TV Conference. Through 3.0, broadcasters need to maximize the use of their existing spectrum, or it will be given to another industry, Hane said. Under the current technology, broadcasters provide a valuable service but take up too much spectrum to provide it, leading regulators to periodically pursue “progressive reclamation” of it as with the incentive auction, Hane said.

CHARLOTTE -- The FCC will vote in July on a proposal for using C-band spectrum, the 500 MHz of spectrum between 3.7 and 4.2 GHz, Chairman Ajit Pai told the Wireless Infrastructure Association Wednesday. Pai urged aggressive action to win the global 5G race but said he wants to find balance between industry and local government interests. Dish Network plans to spend at least $10 billion on 5G, technology that Chairman Charles Ergen predicted would add “a lot more” than $500 billion to the economy. Chasing a 5G network for IoT, “Dish is back to being a startup business,” Ergen said. The company is spending $500 million to $1 billion in the first phase of its plans, and tower executives voiced eagerness to assist.

The 5G item set for commissioners' June 7 meeting proposes to undo some restrictions on spectrum holdings and tie up other loose ends. The FCC released its draft order and Further NPRM Thursday, providing details beyond what Chairman Ajit Pai discussed in a Wednesday blog post (see 1805160051).

The U.S. is moving toward creation of a national spectrum strategy that would predict spectrum trends and allow companies to do a better job of planning, said DOD spectrum chief Fred Moorefield at the National Spectrum Management Association annual conference Tuesday. “I think you'll see that coming out of the White House soon." He noted the Pentagon will update its own spectrum road map and action plan.

Broadcasters and satellite carriers clashed with wireless carriers and Dish Network on what positions the U.S. should take on spectrum use at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2019, in comments posted Thursday and Friday in FCC docket 16-185. Broadcasters want to have language removed from ITU table of frequency allocations they said would leave spectrum dedicated to broadcasters open for wireless use, and most satellite carriers are seeking power constraints on terrestrial international mobile telecom (IMT) and protection for satellite incumbents. Carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile don’t want changes to the language on the use of the broadcast spectrum, do want 37.0-43.5 GHz identified for IMT, and with Dish oppose power limits. To “most effectively promote" 5G, the FCC should adopt recommendations “that promote flexible spectrum use,” T-Mobile said.

The FCC is likely to address its current spectrum screen, especially in light of T-Mobile’s proposed buy of Sprint, some industry officials said. But a move to change the screen could face a backlash, particularly because of the pending wireless deal, they said. The screen was last updated in a June 2014 order under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler and uses a one-third criterion in all bands then considered suitable for mobile broadband deployment. It includes an enhanced screen below 1 GHz because of the “distinct propagation advantages” of low-band spectrum. Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly dissented then, citing concerns about the enhanced screen (see 1405160059).

AT&T is pleased with the reception it has gotten on FirstNet, with about 600 public safety agencies in 48 states signing on, Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said Wednesday on a Q1 earnings call. AT&T has spent money and time over the better part of a year “getting to know our potential clients, getting into the industry, making a bigger effort to be a known player,” Stephens said. FirstNet customers can already get “relentless or ruthless pre-emption” and “priority services,” he said. The carrier is installing FirstNet’s 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum on its towers, Stephens said. “Over the next five years, we'll be putting Band 14 on tens of thousands of new and existing sites nationwide,” he said. “We plan to touch about a third of our cellsites this year.” AT&T’s new agreement with Crown Castle “will help us speed this process,” he said. “The agreement simplifies and expands our long-term leasing deal for wireless network infrastructure.” On buying Time Warner, Stephens said: “Both sides are wrapping up their cases and are now preparing for closing arguments on April 30. We'll wait for the court's ruling. Based on the court's determination, we stand ready to close. Funding is in place, even after we settle the special mandatory redemption bonds.” Stephens said 5G networks will be up by the end of the year, though handsets won’t be readily available until 2019. The technology works for fixed wireless, though AT&T doesn’t see much of a market, he said. “We're not as excited about the business case. It's not as compelling yet for us as it may be for some.” Tests of 5G in high-band spectrum are encouraging, he said. AT&T is seeing speeds of 1 Gbps and higher “under line-of-sight conditions to distances up to 900 feet and with extremely low latency rates,” Stevens said: The spectrum “is able to penetrate foliage, glass and even walls better than anticipated with no discernible signal performance impacts due to rain, snow or other weather issues.” Operating revenue fell about 3 percent to $38.04 billion from the year-ago quarter, falling slightly below expectations. Profit rose by about a third to $4.76 billion. AT&T said it added 187,000 linear video subscribers and 312,000 subscribers to its streaming service DirecTV Now. The telco added 49,000 postpaid wireless customers in the U.S. The stock closed down 6 percent Thursday at $33.10.

LAS VEGAS -- Life for wireless mic operators may grow more complex once TV stations reshuffle frequencies, an engineer at a maker of mic systems said at the NAB Show. Spectrum for such transmissions may grow more scarce and there may be more competing uses, these and other comments Tuesday suggested.

The FCC should tee up for auction all five of the millimeter-wave bands it has approved for 5G (see 1804040042) and not just the 24 and 28 GHz bands, T-Mobile officials said in a meeting with FCC staff, including Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale. “T-Mobile recently announced its plans to deploy 5G infrastructure in 30 markets this year using both 600 MHz and millimeter wave band spectrum,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-85. “Yet, more spectrum is required to realize the full potential of 5G networks and to promote competition. That is why the Commission should make millimeter wave band spectrum available, as quickly as possible, in a manner that best encourages competition and will produce the most pro-consumer impact.” Commissioners are to vote at their April 17 meeting on a public notice that will move the agency toward an auction of the 24 and 28 GHz bands (see 1803270052). Of the two bands, only 24 GHz “presents any meaningful opportunity for new entrants,” T-Mobile said: The 28 GHz band “is already heavily encumbered based on acquisitions by Verizon.”