T-Mobile agreed to help accelerate the repacking of KXAS-TV (NBC) Fort Worth to more quickly have access to 600 MHz spectrum bought in the incentive auction, the carrier said Wednesday. KXAS will move to its new frequency in late May, more than a year earlier than its FCC repacking deadline of June 21, 2019, it said. “This agreement also enables T-Mobile to enhance LTE coverage and capacity in the area more quickly.” The deal will let T-Mobile accelerate improved wireless service to the Texas cities of Paris, Sulphur Springs, Tyler, Waco and Wichita Falls, plus Durant, Oklahoma, the company said.

T-Mobile is pleased the FCC is allowing the early repacking of some Puerto Rican broadcasters, T-Mobile executives said in a meeting in San Juan last week with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who was on a trip there and to the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 1803120056). The early transition of the TV stations there “serves the dual policy objectives of repurposing spectrum for wireless broadband use while ensuring continued vitality of the television broadcast industry,” the carrier filed in docket 17-344. T-Mobile has 50 MHz of 600 MHz spectrum in Puerto Rico “and the early repack of broadcasters there allows us to deploy this spectrum far sooner than would otherwise be possible, including for 5G service, as equipment is available.” The executives backed a more aggressive timetable for selling high-frequency licenses. “The public interest can be even better served by the Commission moving quickly to auction all of the millimeter wave bands allocated for terrestrial mobile use in the Spectrum Frontiers proceeding, including multiple (if not all) of those bands together in the initial millimeter wave auction. These include the 24 GHz, 28 GHz, 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands.”

Use of artificial intelligence and other evolving technologies will be critical to managing the airwaves and handling the spiraling demand for data, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel told the Mobile World Congress Tuesday. At the conference this week in Barcelona, the emphasis has been on 5G, during streamed keynote panels and in announcements made by companies there (see 1802260047). The conference is the last MWC before carriers start to deploy 5G later this year.

At Dish Network, “we obviously have concerns” about Disney’s proposed $66.1 billion buy of much of 21st Century Fox (see 1712140003), said Chairman Charlie Ergen, much as he previously expressed worries about AT&T/Time Warner (see 1711090004). Ergen, on a Wednesday earnings call, implied strongly that he thinks DOJ should challenge Disney/Fox in the courts, as it’s doing with AT&T/TW.

A modified Lifeline draft NARUC resolution urging the FCC to continue allowing resellers to receive low-income USF subsidies cleared the telecom committee unanimously Tuesday. The panel added recommendations from a rival draft backing FCC proposals to eliminate stand-alone Lifeline broadband provider designations and reinstate state regulatory authority over eligible telecom carrier (ETC) designations. It also added language to support firming up a $2.25 billion FCC annual Lifeline budget, and it OK'd a nationwide number portability (NNP) draft resolution, but withdrew a draft pole-attachment overlashing draft. The cleared drafts are expected to be approved by NARUC's board Wednesday.

President Donald Trump’s administration again proposed to cut federal funding to CPB in its FY 2019 budget proposal, placing it among the 22 entities it’s aiming to zero out for federal funding in a bid to “bring Federal spending under control, and reduce deficits by $3.6 trillion over the budget window.” The administration also proposed Monday expanding FCC authority to do spectrum auctions and eliminating accrued interest on future deposits in the Rural Utilities Service borrowers’ cushion of credit accounts. The budget largely maintains the funding levels the FCC, FTC and NTIA proposed in the Trump administration’s FY 2018 request, all of which are down from the year’s funding levels under continuing appropriations (see 1705230041). The White House also released its infrastructure legislative proposal, which would streamline the permit review process for small cells and Wi-Fi deployments (see 1802120001).

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment on a waiver request by Sensible Medical Innovations for a system that uses ultra-wideband (UWB) medical imaging to obtain lung fluid measurements for congestive heart failure patients in a noninvasive way. Rules restrict such systems to operations between 3100 MHz and 10,600 MHz, OET said. Sensible said its system "must operate in the range of 1005 MHz to 1709 MHz, because accurate lung fluid detection requires frequencies that can penetrate the body, which it claims is not technologically possible” with the higher frequencies, OET said. The company also sought a waiver of testing procedures and of a requirement that users of UWB imaging devices coordinate deployment with NTIA through the FCC. Comments are due at the FCC March 12, replies March 27, in docket 18-39.

T-Mobile said growth continued in Q4, with 1.9 million total net additions and 1.1 million postpaid phone adds. The carrier said it added 3.6 million postpaid phone subscribers in 2017. Postpaid churn was T-Mobile's lowest ever at 1.18 percent. CEO John Legere said the company has soared in the five years since he told CES that the carrier would “take a stand against a stupid, broken industry.” T-Mobile has gone from 33 million customers at the end of 2012 to nearly 73 million, Legere said Thursday. T-Mobile had a “lagging 3G network” then, and now has a 4G network that is “blazing fast," he said. The recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had a net effect of $2.2 billion on earnings. After going big in the TV incentive auction, Legere said that at the end of 2017, the company had turned on its 600 MHz spectrum from the auction in parts of 28 states, covering 300,000 square miles. T-Mobile offered two 600 MHz-capable phones at the end of last year and expects to have at least 12 available this year, he said. Legere said the carrier added nearly 2,800 stores in 2017. “With a Sprint merger officially off the table for the time being, T-Mobile is focused on continuing to grow its business organically through retail and network expansion,” Technology Business Research wrote investors. “T-Mobile will sustain revenue and subscriber growth over the next two years by sticking to its core Un-carrier strategies and will capitalize on Netflix On Us to cement its position as a value leader in the U.S. postpaid market.” Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson said T-Mobile’s stock has struggled since it called off a possible Sprint deal (see 1711060068). “Shares have nicely rebounded from their lows after the merger was called off, and have outperformed over the past three months, but over a year, they have lagged,” Moffett wrote. “Lately, they have struggled to do much more than tread water.” They closed down 5.1 percent at $58.88 as the market overall fell.

Microsoft representatives met with Nick Degani and Alison Nemeth, aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, urging further action on the company’s 2016 petition seeking changes to the rules for white spaces devices in the 600 MHz band. Microsoft said then the rules were “overly cautious in a number of respects that will significantly hamper consumer services.” In the latest filing, in docket 14-165, Microsoft said the FCC should “adopt policies that efficiently use spectrum resources throughout the 600 MHz band, permitting White Spaces technologies to improve broadband access in rural communities.” Former Commissioner Robert McDowell, now at Cooley, also represented Microsoft at the meeting.

The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force and Wireless Bureau approved grant of 600 MHz licenses bought in the broadcast incentive auction by four additional bidders. The licenses cleared were bought by the Iowa RSA 2 L.P., Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, SAL Spectrum and Smith Bagley. The FCC has been working through license applications after approving the grant of the first licenses in June to national players (see 1706140048).