Building ATSC 3.0 functionality into smartphones takes more than just fast-tracking development of receiver chipsets, said T-Mobile in a “technical white paper” filed Monday at the FCC in docket 16-142. It takes aim at Sinclair plans to have 3.0 chipsets ready for commercialization in smartphones in time for the 2018 holiday selling season (see 1705210001). Sinclair's response is "we're not naive enough to believe you hand somebody a chip and suddenly you’ve got ATSC 3.0 on that phone,” Mark Aitken, Sinclair vice president-advanced technology, told us Tuesday.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he will propose by year-end to open additional high-frequency bands for 5G, building on the 28, 37 and 39 GHz reallocated last year (see 1607140052). Pai was among the first speakers Tuesday at GSMA’s first Mobile World Congress Americas, co-hosted by CTIA in San Francisco. Much of his speech focused on his usual big themes, including tackling the digital divide and eliminating unnecessary regulation.

Verizon is committed to building its own dedicated public safety network, but doesn’t see itself as a competitor to FirstNet/AT&T, a Verizon official told members of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council Wednesday. NPSTC members told us the group is open-minded on the role Verizon could play. Meanwhile, an AT&T official said it plans to build out FirstNet’s dedicated 700 MHz band.

T-Mobile Thursday unveiled the first smartphone with a chip that supports the 600 MHz spectrum it bought in the TV incentive auction -- the LG V30. T-Mobile also said it has deployed 600 MHz in a second market, Scarborough, Maine. Earlier this month, the carrier deployed the TV spectrum in Cheyenne, Wyoming (see 1708160038). T-Mobile also said it's using new Ericsson radio equipment that supports both LTE and 5G. “We’re lighting up our new super spectrum for LTE and laying the foundation for 5G so fast we’re making the other guys’ heads spin -- and with the LG V30, everything is coming together in record time,” said T-Mobile CEO John Legere in a news release. AT&T and Verizon also said they plan to offer the new smartphone (see here and here).

A combined Sinclair/Tribune will use its increased leverage over the repacking to force wireless carriers to incorporate ATSC 3.0 technology into handsets, said T-Mobile and the Competitive Carriers Association in replies posted in FCC docket 17-179 Wednesday. “If Sinclair is allowed to proceed with its acquisition of Tribune, Sinclair’s attempt to force inefficient, costly behavior from wireless carriers and their customers is likely to succeed,” CCA said.

The Samsung Galaxy Note8 launches Sept. 15 on the T-Mobile network, the carrier said Wednesday. (See a separate report about the Note8 launch in today's issue of this publication.) But the phone won't come with a chip allowing the use of the 600 MHz spectrum T-Mobile bought in the TV incentive auction, a spokesman said, saying Samsung will have a handset available by year-end that does. "When you put the Note8 on the T-Mobile network, it’s like putting a world-class racecar on a brand new, state-of-the-art racetrack -- it’s straight up incredible,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere said in a news release.

Public interest groups charged Tuesday that a Verizon plan to divide its unlimited offering into three separate plans raises net neutrality concerns. Verizon said it's now offering three different unlimited plans -- Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited and Business Unlimited. The groups said the plan shows why the FCC shouldn't roll back open internet rules approved two years ago under former Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1707180009).

T-Mobile turned on the first part of its 600 MHz LTE network, using spectrum acquired in the TV incentive auction, it said Wednesday in a news release. The initial deployment is in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and uses Nokia equipment, T-Mobile said. “Starting in rural America and other markets where the spectrum is clear of broadcasting today, T-Mobile plans to deploy the new super-spectrum at record-shattering pace -- compressing what would normally be a two-year process from auction to consumer availability into a short six months.” The carrier said it plans to deploy service in the spectrum in Wyoming, northwest Oregon, West Texas, southwest Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, western North Dakota, Maine, coastal North Carolina, central Pennsylvania, central Virginia and eastern Washington. It expects to make handsets available for the holiday buying season with 600 MHz chips that can use the new band, a spokesman said. The carrier was the high bidder in the auction, winning 1,525 licenses for $8 billion (see 1704130056).

The FCC needs to allow unauthorized use of the 5.9 GHz band, to support gigabit Wi-Fi, and to keep the designation of 64-71 GHz for unlicensed use while considering other high-frequency unlicensed spectrum designations, NCTA blogged Tuesday. Pointing to licensed and unlicensed spectrum needs to meet mobile broadband demands, NCTA said the agency "is on the right path" with its grant of the first 600 MHz wireless licenses and that it's likely to soon consider "modest changes" to 3.5 GHz rules.

Some opponents of Sinclair buying Tribune argue in petitions to deny posted by the FCC Tuesday that the new company would have unprecedented ability to drag the post-incentive auction repacking to a halt, and would want to do so because of its massive investment in ATSC 3.0. “Sinclair’s ‘all-in’ posture on ATSC 3.0 gives it a strong self-interest in using whatever leverage it has to promote the adoption of this standard,” petitioned T-Mobile. A delay in repacking would give Sinclair more time to lobby the commission to devote more reimbursement funds to paying for stations to buy 3.0 equipment, said the filing in docket 17-179.