US Cellular filed a petition Tuesday asking the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling that unclaimed Mobility Fund Phase I support should go to next-in-line bidders. The FCC should also say the Wireless Bureau can take this step “on an expedited basis” acting on delegated authority, said the carrier. “More than a year after completion of Auction 901, more than $68 million of the $300 million originally made available for funding mobile broadband investments in unserved areas remains unclaimed due to winning bidders defaulting on their bids,” US Cellular said. “These defaulted amounts can and should be awarded to the next-in-line bidders who remain ready, willing, and able, to meet the goals of the program and expand the reach of mobile broadband into areas that remain un-served and which were eligible for funding under the rules of Auction 901.” The auction was Sept. 27, 2012. Thirty-three winning bidders were awarded just under $300 million total (http://fcc.us/1hWi19B).

Two orders on service rules for the AWS-3 auction and increased unlicensed use of 5 GHz spectrum are both important steps for the wireless industry, CTIA said in a letter to the commission. Both are teed up for a vote at Monday’s FCC meeting. “Bringing an additional 65 megahertz of licensed mobile spectrum to market will help meet the surging demand for mobile broadband services,” CTIA said (http://bit.ly/1farrfB). “Although more work remains to be done, the AWS-3 Report and Order is an important step that will allow the wireless industry to continue to invest, deploy, innovate, and create value to the benefit of consumers and our economy.” It’s also important to make more unlicensed spectrum available in the Unlicensed-National Information Infrastructure-1 (U-NII-1) band, CTIA said. “It is in the national interest to make additional spectrum available for both licensed and unlicensed services, and the 5 GHz band is particularly well suited to unlicensed use. The 5 GHz First Report and Order will foster innovation, drive investment, and increase wireless Internet connectivity for the benefit of all Americans.” Both items are scheduled for a vote based on a notice released by the FCC (http://fcc.us/1gSQ93y).

Verizon proposed an alternative licensing model for the incentive TV auction, as an alternative to Partial Economic Areas (PEAs), as proposed by groups representing smaller carriers (CD March 13 p6). “Any new license areas should reflect updated geographic and population data, rather than the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) included in the current Cellular Market Area (CMA) boundaries used by the Commission,” Verizon said (http://bit.ly/1fb6DEK). Verizon said there are problems with the PEA proposal. “First, the PEAs do not reflect current MSAs; more than 80 MSAs have been split into two or more PEAs,” Verizon said. “Second, there are no discernable objective criteria underlying the construction of some of the PEAs. Third, some of the PEAs subdivide current MSAs in unusual ways and are unnecessarily small.” Verizon said it continues to support selling the spectrum in Economic Area-sized licenses “rather than smaller license sizes because it is more efficient, will allow the spectrum to be put to use more quickly to benefit customers, and generally will produce more revenues at auction to cover the cost of clearing spectrum and fund the public safety network,” meaning FirstNet.

CTIA, NTCA and the Rural Wireless Association are pressing the FCC to move forward on a long-standing proposal to convert the licensing model for the cellular band from a site-based to a geographic-based model. “We have had constructive discussions with FCC staff in developing our proposal and now urge the Commission to promptly issue an Order adopting and codifying the Joint Proposal,” the groups said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1hUCUC5). “The Joint Proposal will simplify Cellular licensing while balancing incumbent and new entrant rights.” The three groups reported on a meeting with Wireless Bureau staff to discuss the plan. AT&T, US Cellular and Verizon also were represented at the meeting. “The public interest benefits of the Joint Proposal are clear, and the Commission should promptly issue an Order rejecting the overlay auction approach and adopting cellular licensing rules consistent with the Joint Proposal,” the groups said. They noted that CTIA submitted the “core elements” of the proposal submitted to the FCC in September 2010 and the commission sought specific comment on the proposal in a 2012 NPRM (http://bit.ly/1fay8OG).

Four groups that represent small carriers offered a slightly revised proposal for dividing the U.S. into 416 partial economic areas as the basis for spectrum licenses in the TV incentive auction. Among the tweaks proposed, Boone County, Ill., would move from PEA 79 to PEA 339 and Madison County, Ill., from PEA 405 to PEA 403 (http://bit.ly/1kQmVYs). The Competitive Carriers Association, NTCA, Rural Wireless Association and rural carriers represented by the Blooston law firm signed off on the revised map.

"TV white space deployments are ramping up as equipment certified with geolocation databases is produced, shipped and installed,” said representatives of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association in a meeting with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. “The WISPA representatives further explained the propagation benefits and cost-effectiveness of unlicensed spectrum below 1 GHz as other unlicensed bands become more congested and consumer use of broadband expands,” the group said in an ex parte filing at the commission (http://bit.ly/1kQlqJE).

Oceus Networks said it believes the broadcast auxiliary spectrum (BAS) band, the 1780-1850 MHz band and the 3.5 GHz band, which Verizon Communications has proposed for federal use, are not “suitable for LTE mission-oriented uses” (http://bit.ly/1gQE3wg). Verizon filed an ex parte with the FCC Tuesday proposing the three bands for federal use as part of the FCC’s ongoing proceeding on rules for the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz bands (http://bit.ly/1r7DRxg). The BAS band is not allocated for commercial use and “will not have an available ecosystem,” Oceus said Friday. The 1780-1850 MHz band is not available in the U.S. for LTE use and will be “heavily used” by Department of Defense systems after they reallocate from the 1755-1780 MHz band, Oceus said. The 3.5 GHz band “may develop the LTE commercial device and chipset ecosystem, but the range and power levels may not be suitable for all military tactical uses,” Oceus said. Verizon also said in its filing Tuesday that access to military bases and the process to gain approval to construct towers on bases makes siting more difficult. Oceus said Friday that even though the Federal Property Working Group is working to improve access to military bases and related processes, “there is no guarantee that commercial carriers will provide service in these areas.” Spectrum in sparsely populated and geographically remote locations will remain “fallow” and would support DOD mission-oriented needs that carrier networks would be unlikely to support if service were provided on bases.

The Competitive Carriers Association asked the Supreme Court to hear T-Mobile’s appeal of a zoning decision last year by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. CCA filed an amicus brief in T-Mobile South, LLC v. City of Roswell, Georgia. The 11th Circuit instructed a lower court to hear a zoning case brought by Roswell, Ga., after the court granted T-Mobile summary judgment on the grounds that the city’s denial of a cell tower permit sought by the carrier violated the Telecommunications Act (CD Oct 2 p 12). T-Mobile sought cert in February. “At its core, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 encourages competition and the deployment of advanced services to all Americans on a timely basis. But this promise has gone unfulfilled to many rural Americans,” CCA said (http://bit.ly/PYpttn). “While over 90 percent of non-rural Americans are covered by four or more mobile broadband service providers, less than 40 percent of rural Americans have access to the same number of options,” the group said. “In states where the appellate court has adopted the ‘minority’ rule (such as in the state subject to this appeal), wireless service providers and reviewing courts are forced to trudge through whatever administrative record may or may not be available in search of an answer for why a siting application was denied. This adds needless time and expense to the process, preventing carriers from building out in a timely manner."

The Technology Policy Institute urged creation of a “Government Spectrum Ownership Corporation,” or GSOC, to manage federal spectrum use, in comments filed Thursday at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Comments were due Thursday on a Feb. 14 request for information from OSTP (http://1.usa.gov/1l7jXkR). “There is a widespread consensus that spectrum in government hands is likely not being used efficiently and that some -- perhaps a significant amount -- could be reallocated to more efficient private uses,” TPI said. “However, efforts to determine the extent of this ’surplus’ and then to devise a method of freeing it from government hands confront a dilemma: the absence of a market mechanism, or even a budgetary mechanism, that could encourage this reallocation.” Its proposed GSOC is one answer, TPI said (http://bit.ly/1d3ZISf). “The GSOC would take possession of all government-held spectrum, with the existing user agencies granted annual leases (that are perpetually renewable at the option of the agency) at annual rental rates that are determined by the GSOC, based on its estimates of the relevant opportunity costs,” TPI said. “The GSOC would forward its net proceeds to the Treasury.” OSTP plans to post comments it receives on its website after reviewing them to ensure that no sensitive personal or proprietary information is posted, a spokeswoman said Thursday. CEA also supports government efforts to make more federal spectrum available for wireless broadband, President Gary Shapiro said Thursday. “As Americans use more and more smart, connected devices, we must have enough spectrum for them to communicate with their surroundings and with each other,” Shapiro said in a news release. “Unfortunately, our nation is running out of wireless spectrum. We have to find new ways to meet the ever-growing demand for broadband services and applications. Making federal spectrum available for commercial use is critical to addressing our nation’s spectrum needs."

The FCC sought comment on the proposed sale of six lower 700 MHz B-block licenses from NTCH and affiliate WGH Communications to AT&T. “Preliminary review of the applications indicates that, as a result of the transaction, AT&T would be assigned 12 megahertz of Lower 700 MHz B Block spectrum in 18 counties in six Cellular Market Areas ... across parts of Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas,” the FCC said in a public notice. AT&T would hold 88-175 MHz in the counties covered, post-transaction, the FCC said (http://bit.ly/1jcdBfK). Petitions to deny are due April 3, oppositions April 14 and replies April 21. “To allow the Commission to consider fully all substantive issues regarding the applications in as timely and efficient a manner as possible, petitioners and commenters should raise all issues in their initial filings,” the FCC warned. “New issues may not be raised in responses or replies. A party or interested person seeking to raise a new issue after the pleading cycle has closed must show good cause why it was not possible for it to have raised the issue previously.”