Portions of the FCC's C-band order adopted at its July meeting (see 1807120037) took effect Monday with its publication the Federal Register. The published notice said earth station and satellite information collection requirements don't take effect until approval by the Office of Management and Budget and the FCC will publish in the FR the effective date of those requirements.

Oral argument was set for Oct. 25 on challenges to FCC Lifeline tribal limitations, said a brief order (in Pacer) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Monday in National Lifeline Association v. FCC, No. 18-1026. A D.C. Circuit motions panel Aug. 10 stayed the FCC restrictions on enhanced tribal support in the low-income USF subsidy program (see 1808100027).

Errors and omissions in the Nominet White Space Database System must be addressed before the system can be put out for broader use, said NAB in comments filed last week in docket 04-186. The database didn’t provide correct channel information for TV stations during its testing period, NAB said. The system needs to be fixed to make sure operators using it don’t interfere with licensed users, NAB said. The TV white spaces database “remains dysfunctional, inaccurate and unpoliced,” NAB said. The FCC should “take a more proactive role” in overseeing it, NAB said. “The Nominet database serves as a timely reminder that until the Commission does so, the white spaces experiment will remain an ongoing failure.” The FCC didn't comment.

Net neutrality advocates were expected to file briefs late Monday on their challenges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to the FCC's "internet freedom" order undoing Title II open internet regulation under the Communications Act. Public Knowledge believes the commission "made multiple bad policy decisions" under Chairman Ajit Pai. "The FCC also broke the law," said a PK release on its expected joint filing with petitioners Mozilla, Vimeo, New America's Open Technology Institute, National Hispanic Media Coalition, NTCH, Benton Foundation, Free Press, Coalition for Internet Openness, Etsy, Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee, Center for Democracy and Technology, and Incompas. “For the first time, and contradicting every previous FCC to consider the issue, the FCC's current leadership has decided that the agency lacks jurisdiction over broadband entirely. Not only did this radical move violate the statute, but the FCC violated the Administrative Procedure Act by rewriting history and pretending that its latest move is a return to, rather than a rejection of, the bipartisan consensus on the proper role of the FCC with respect to broadband. While past Republican-led FCCs have expressed a preference for ‘light-touch’ regulation, the current leadership has opted instead for a ‘zero-touch’ approach." PK also said the FCC "cherry-picked investment evidence that supported its predetermined outcome and ignored evidence that classifying broadband as ‘telecommunications’ did not harm broadband deployment," among other things. A state and local petitioner brief was also due to file.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will travel 1,300 miles in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah this week “to highlight how expanding high-speed Internet access and closing the digital divide can create jobs and increase digital opportunity,” said a news release Friday. The trip includes visits to an Arizona ISP, cattle ranch, Colorado broadband provider, veterans hospital, and schools in New Mexico and Utah, the release said. Pai also will speak Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. at the Technology Policy Institute annual event in Aspen Colorado, tour Brigham Young University Broadcasting, attend an event hosted by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and hold roundtables on rural broadband with Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah.

A group of tech companies and SiriusXM are butting heads over a technical study on coexistence in the 6 GHz band. Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Marvell Technology, Microsoft and Qualcomm in docket 17-183 Friday said Sirius criticisms of the RKF Engineering study actually confirm the study in some parts and don't provide reasonable alternatives to the assumptions in others. Apple and the others said the RKF study -- looking at the 5925-6425 MHz band -- includes 12 times as many terrestrial links as the band, including Sirius feeder links, so that company confirms its uplink operations are even less vulnerable to terrestrial noise than the one with the representative system characteristics RKF analyzed. The tech companies dismissed Sirius claims the 6 GHz band will be used more heavily than the 5 GHz and 2.4 radio local area network, saying the satellite-radio provider doesn't understand how radio resource management algorithms of managed and unmanaged RLAN deployments work. Sirius outside counsel didn't comment Friday. The company has said satellite digital audio radio service in some parts of the country is subject to downlink frequency band interference, leaving it with no margin for tolerating additional interference, and big RLAN device deployments expected over the next seven years would just worsen the problem.

Allowing a class-action antitrust lawsuit to proceed against Apple, alleging it monopolized distribution of App Store applications, would harm competition, the Computer & Communications Industry Association argued in a Supreme Court filing Friday. Others, including the government, concurred. The high court agreed (see 1806180053) to hear Apple's appeal of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the suit could proceed. Upholding the ruling would weaken competition for “potential new entrants and for thousands of smaller businesses that rely on so-called multi-sided online business models,” CCIA said. CEO Ed Black said the lower court erred “in understanding how these business models function and ignored well-settled antitrust doctrines to come up with a ruling that would unfortunately expose these matchmakers to duplicative treble damages.” The solicitor general and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also argued in favor of Apple. Because app developers can seek recovery of damages that have been passed on to consumers, allowing the consumers to sue would “create an evident prospect of duplicative recovery,” the solicitor general said. Online platforms lower overhead costs that simplify market entry, ACT|The App Association wrote. Platforms also give app developers instant access to international markets and strengthen intellectual property protections for developers, the association said.

Groups asked the FCC to halt its 180-day review "clock" on T-Mobile's planned buy of Sprint, until applicants "supplement their public interest statement to adequately describe the extensive spectrum aggregation that will result." The agency "should establish a new pleading cycle, with Petitions to Deny due four weeks following the Applicant’s submission of and the agency’s publication of sufficient information for the Commission and the public to sufficiently review the spectrum concentration," said a motion Friday, in docket 18-197, of the Communications Workers of America, Rural Wireless Association, NTCA, Public Knowledge, Consumers Union, The Greenlining Institute, Common Cause, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Writers Guild of America West, Free Press and Benton Foundation. Alternatively, they requested, at least extend the deadline for filing petitions to deny to Sept. 17, which is "warranted in light of the importance and complexity of this proceeding, conflicts with the major Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and the glut of overlapping major proceedings" open for public comment. The FCC, Sprint and T-Mobile didn't comment. GCI Communication supports the transaction "because it will create a stronger mobile broadband operator with sufficient scale and financial resources to bring much-needed wholesale and retail wireless competition." The cable operator/telco said a T-Mobile roaming deal helps it provide "competitive wireless broadband service" to customers traveling outside Alaska.

U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam of Oakland, California, rejected some FTC false advertising claims against DirecTV that are the basis of the agency's $3.95 billion lawsuit against the satellite company. The docket 15-cv-01129-HSG order (in Pacer) Thursday responded to an oral motion by DirecTV during an August 2017 bench trial for judgment on partial findings. The judge said the trade commission didn't prove DirecTV violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, barring misleading of consumers, in its non-website ads since it didn't show they were likely to mislead a reasonable consumer. Gilliam said while the case regarding web-based advertising "was far from overwhelming," he would defer a determination on those claims until after the close of the evidence. The commission didn't comment. DirecTV owner AT&T emailed it's "pleased with the Court’s decision and look[ed] forward to resolving what remains of the case."

Elefante Group defended its proposal the FCC modify rules to allow operation of stratospheric-based communications services (SBCS) platforms at 65,000 feet. “None of the comments on the Petition identify concerns that should impede the Commission from swiftly commencing a rulemaking to consider technical, operations, and licensing rules for SBCS in the 21.5-23.6, 25.25-27.5, 71-76, and 81-86 GHz bands,” Elefante replied, posted Thursday in RM-11809. SBCS platforms differ from high altitude platform stations (HAPS), operating at a different altitude, Elefante said. “SBCS would also use different spectrum than that being considered for HAPS to achieve the proposed data throughput performance requirements and spectrum efficiency.” Facebook asked the FCC to move forward on rules for both types. “Facebook, working with a range of partners, has launched several initiatives focused on connecting the unconnected and under-connected,” the company said. “It will take a mix of technical solutions to bring connectivity to all. As such, Facebook has supported research and development efforts in a range of technologies, including terrestrial, mobile, satellite, and high altitude platform stations.” The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory earlier objected to the plan (see 1807110037).