The Office of Management and Budget signed off on parts of the FCC’s May 24, 2012, order allowing Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs) in the 2360-2400 MHz band, and the rules took full effect Friday, said an FCC notice in the Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1cFBQTQ). The notice said OMB signed off on Sections 95.1215(c), 95.1217(a)(3), 95.1223 and 95.1225 of the rules in October. OMB examined reporting requirements, third-party disclosure requirements and recordkeeping requirements of the order under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. OMB decided the total annual burden for compliance was 9,120 hours at an annual cost of $462,600. A wireless industry lawyer told us Friday that industry is waiting for a resolution of various recon petitions and a further notice on MBANs “to be resolved before developing equipment."

Members of the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition made their case for unlicensed use of the TV bands following the incentive auction and channel repacking, in a meeting with Roger Sherman, FCC Wireless Bureau acting chief, and others from the bureau. PISC said the FCC should designate “an unlicensed and contiguous duplex gap (and/or guard band) of at least 20 MHz” and maintain two designated channels for wireless mics, opening “them for shared unlicensed use; shrinking the separation distances that limit wireless microphone use of locally-vacant, out-of-market TV co-channels; and requiring microphones to rely first on out-of-market TV co-channels that are not available to unlicensed devices,” said a filing on the meeting (http://bit.ly/1eCAKdd). It said the FCC should also make Channel 37 available on a limited basis for unlicensed use and maintain “the status quo with respect to unlicensed access to 600 MHz spectrum, post-auction, in each local area until it is actually in use.” Michael Calabrese of the New America Foundation, Harold Feld of Public Knowledge and Matt Wood of Free Press were at the meeting for PISC.

With federal regulators concerned about cutting the number of major national wireless carriers from four to three, a possible Sprint/T-Mobile merger would face an uphill battle at the FCC and Department of Justice, industry observers say. Reports emerged last week that Sprint, the nation’s third largest carrier, and T-Mobile US, its fourth largest, are looking at a deal to merge (CD Dec 16 p15). The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Sprint is looking at making a bid north of $20 billion for T-Mobile in the first half of next year, while it also studies “regulatory concerns."

Wireless microphone maker Sennheiser said CTIA is wrong to oppose the company’s request that TV incentive auction winners be required to partially reimburse wireless mic users for the cost of replacing equipment made unusable by reallocation of the 600 MHz band. “At the outset, CTIA has mischaracterized the request,” the company said in a filing at the FCC (http://bit.ly/1dbItJR). “Sennheiser does not seek reimbursement to wireless microphone manufacturers, as CTIA states, but rather to wireless microphone users -- not only professional broadcasters, filmmakers, theaters, and concert promoters, but also churches, schools, community organizations, political groups, and countless others -- people who lack meaningful input to the Commission’s spectrum policies, yet stand to suffer financial damage from the reallocation.” Contrary to CTIA’s characterization, owners of wireless mics are not secondary users of the spectrum, Sennheiser said.

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on a proposal to license TV incentive auction spectrum in smaller blocks than Economic Area licenses, which was proposed by the Competitive Carriers Association. CCA proposed use of Partial Economic Area licenses, bigger than Cellular Market Area licenses, but smaller than EAs. “Although a number of commenters support the Commission’s proposal to license the 600 MHz band on an EA basis, some commenters argue that EA licenses are too large for small and rural operators to obtain at auction or deploy,” the bureau said (http://bit.ly/IRKmC0). “Larger carriers express concern that it is more difficult to acquire a national or regional footprint using smaller geographic area licenses.” There are 734 U.S. CMAs, with much smaller geographic areas than the 176 EAs. Comments are due Jan. 9, replies Jan. 23.

The possibility of bidding restrictions remained a key part of the incentive auction debate as the Senate Commerce Committee quizzed witnesses Tuesday. The FCC has been urged to limit participation of AT&T and Verizon Wireless. The hearing was less than a week after FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said he would delay the auction from potentially late 2014 to mid-2015 (CD Dec 9 p1).

AT&T “would be supportive of rules around the [broadcast incentive] auction that would limit the amount of spectrum any one company could garner,” as long as “everyone is bound” to those rules, CEO Randall Stephenson said Tuesday at a UBS investor conference. “That seems like a reasonable place for us. ... The more restrictions you begin to put on the auction participants, the more it drives the value down and the more risk you have of a failed auction.”

Dish Network urged the FCC to prohibit coordinated negotiations among non-commonly owned stations, adopt a carriage dispute resolution mechanism and permit interim carriage to avoid blackouts during impasses. The commission has “broad statutory authority to implement such reforms to protect consumers and better reflect market conditions,” it said in an ex parte filing in dockets 13-225, 13-185 and 10-71 (http://bit.ly/1bSaLMU). Dish also supported auctions of 600 MHz spectrum and AWS-3 spectrum, it said. Consumers benefit from a competitive wireless landscape, and in order to preserve those benefits, “the commission must ensure that the two dominant wireless incumbents are not permitted to lock competitive carriers out of acquiring low-band spectrum,” it said.

The FCC won’t hold its broadcast incentive auction until the middle of 2015, Chairman Tom Wheeler said Friday, amid some still hoping it might take place in 2014 as once planned. Observers have worried about the timeline and long suspected it would be a stretch to hold it in 2014. Wheeler has called holding a successful auction a top priority, and several stakeholders said in interviews and written statements delay reflected a realistic view of the auction challenges.

All spectrum is important, said panelists at a Practising Law Institute session on wireless developments, but there was some disagreement over how valuable low-band spectrum is on its own. Panelists also agreed that a 180-day shot clock on merger review, proposed by FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, is a good idea, if the agency gets some flexibility to pause the clock.