T-Mobile CEO John Legere and Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure met with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel about T-Mobile's buy of Sprint, said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-197. The executives “described the affirmative case for the transaction and responded to questions,” the companies said. New Street’s Blair Levin told investors the deal is unlikely to be approved as-is. “Staffs at the DOJ and FCC have significant concerns about the deal on a number of traditional antitrust type issues, including on the claims of efficiencies, potential price increases, and the impact on competition in the next several years,” he said. T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray also attended, and blogged Monday about the deal (see 1904220040).

The FCC released formerly confidential information about incentive auction reverse auction bids that didn’t win, said a public notice Monday. The information is being released because a promised two-year deadline, dating from the April 13, 2017, close of the auction, has now passed. The agency released the data only on winning bidders when the auction closed in 2017. “Today we are making available information about non-winning bids and other related data regarding bidding in the reverse auction,” the PN said. The information will be useful to non-winning broadcasters to see how close they came to getting an auction payout, said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Peter Tannenwald in an interview. The details also could show which broadcasters were open to unloading their stations but didn’t get the chance, BIA/Kelsey Chief Economist Mark Fratrik told us.

Representatives of New America’s Open Technology Institute met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr about the future of the Lifeline program. “We reiterated OTI’s longstanding support for Lifeline and our concern that a budget cap could cause eligible Americans to lose access to vital communications services and discourage wireless providers from participating in the program,” the group said in docket 17-287. OTI said the FCC should “fully implement” the national verifier before taking on other systemic changes to the program. Last we were told, Carr hadn't yet voted on the USF budget NPRM (see 1904030026), and he declined to comment about the matter to us on April 12.

A government-run C-band auction could fairly compensate satellite operators, encourage prompt relocation of earth station operations and send "a fair share" of the proceeds back to U.S. taxpayers, ABS Global CEO James Frownfelter told FCC representatives, according to a docket 18-122 ex parte posting Wednesday. ABS, also representing fellow operators Hispasat and Embratel, said T-Mobile's cleaning plan is "plainly unlawful" by not providing for bid solicitations from competing licensees. It also said making earth station operators and satellite operators bid against one another would exclude the satellite operators form meaningful participation and violate the mandate that incentive auctions encourage voluntary giving up of spectrum rights. Those operators have also opposed the C-Band Alliance plan (see 1903110059). At the meeting were Office of Engineering and Technology head Julius Knapp, Office of Economics head Giulia McHenry and staff from the Wireless and International bureaus. T-Mobile didn't comment Thursday.

In the April 15 article, "Dispute Over FCC Advisory Group Diversity Flares Anew on CAC," (see 1904120044) Rashad Robinson should be Robinson on second and subsequent reference.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr stressed the need for more skilled tower workers in a speech Thursday at Aiken Technical College in South Carolina, during a three-day swing through the South. “A skilled workforce is essential to winning the race to 5G and building next-gen networks in communities across the country,” Carr said. “I’ve seen firsthand the work that tower crews are doing to deploy this infrastructure and the challenges they face in meeting the exploding demand for their services.” The tower industry estimates it needs 20,000 more skilled workers to complete the 5G build, he said. Carr said he's working with the National Wireless Safety Alliance to create programs similar to Aiken's elsewhere. Changes in wireless infrastructure rules have meant more buildout, Carr told us. “Now that sort of tees up a new challenge -- how do we have the skilled workforce to go ahead and get that deployment out there?” The program at Aiken should be seen as a model, Carr said. All of the graduates of the course, which takes up to 12 weeks to complete, have been able to immediately get a job when they graduate, he said. “These are good paying, solidly middle-class jobs,” he said. By doing it through a college, students can get grants and other student aide, including from the military, he said.

The Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee is relaunching, NTIA said Thursday. Despite the administration’s focus on 5G, CSMAC has been idle since last year, apparently caught up in administration politics (see 1903280060). “The committee will be working on issues related to the growing demand for spectrum to support 5G technologies as well as ensuring continued access to spectrum for critical federal government, defense and national security missions,” NTIA said: Jennifer Warren, vice president at Lockheed Martin, and Charla Rath, independent consultant and former Verizon executive, will co-chair. Members of CSMAC, new and renewed, got emails this week saying the group has been reauthorized for a new two-year term and asking for confirmation the recipient wants to continue to serve, CSMAC members said. CSMAC last met in July. Members were selected “based on their technical background and expertise, as well as a diversity and balance in points of view, consistent with the CSMAC,” NTIA said.

Citizens Against Government Waste, a critic of the C-Band Alliance (CBA) band-clearing plan (see 1904100018), said Wednesday secondary market sales need clearly defined property rights, which satellite operators in the band lack. It also said taxpayers wouldn't benefit from revenue from such sales. Separately, in a docket 18-122 posting, Colorado's Way Media said of the band-clearing plans, the CBA's "is the clear choice" because it ensures current C-band users will still have access and CBA members have committed to launching new satellites to maintain capacity in the band. It said fiber isn't accessible to some downlink and broadcast locations, and is more expensive than C-band satellite service.

The record shows the FCC should allow maps for USF support in Alaska using an accuracy standard of 50 meters, the Alaska Telecom Association (ATA) said. In March, FCC staff rejected as "overly broad" an ATA request to waive a requirement that carriers receiving Alaska Plan USF support submit fiber network maps accurate within 7.6 meters (see 1903040026). GCI sought review. “Alaska Plan participants have demonstrated in multiple filings the burden of the 7.6 meter standard,” ATA said. “Applying the 7.6 meter standard imposes tremendous additional burden on Alaska Plan companies, burden which will not increase the utility of the maps.” NCTA and America’s Communications Association also filed in support of GCI: “As GCI makes clear in its application, requiring such a granular level of location information about fiber facilities would be prohibitively expensive and there is no public interest benefit to requiring such a strict definition.” Comments were posted Wednesday in docket 16-271.

The FCC Office of Inspector General issued a general warning against Lifeline fraud Tuesday. OIG said a common scam is to manipulate someone’s name or identity to get extra payments. “OIG has seen thousands of examples of ‘female juniors’ among Lifeline enrollments,” the office said. “Another fraudulent practice involves adding an individual’s middle initials to either the first name or last name fields … to create fraudulent enrollments.” Address manipulation is also common, OIG said: “One vacant lot in Detroit was used by a carrier as the home address of nearly two hundred Lifeline subscribers.” Lifeline abuse won’t be tolerated, the warning said: This advisory is “to alert and educate Lifeline stakeholders and the public about some of the techniques used to perpetrate fraud we have learned about during our investigations. OIG ... will continue to use a full-range of tools to expose and combat fraud, waste, and abuse in USF programs.”