The CTIA Spectrum Clearinghouse assisted in the relocation of 17 links in the AWS-1 band in the first half of 2014, said a report the group filed at the FCC. Throughout its lifetime, the clearinghouse has relocated 1,713 links, the report said (http://bit.ly/1rLRGQA). The average cost for those moved this year was $191,708. The report was posted Thursday in docket 00-258.

As of March 31, Sprint estimates its costs directly associated with completing the reconfiguration of all 800 MHz licensees will be $331.3 million or less, said the carrier in filing Wednesday in FCC docket 02-55 (http://bit.ly/1qszEC3). The number is based on forecasts submitted to the 800 MHz Transition Administrator and reflects “the amounts remaining unpaid under executed contracts as well as an estimate based on the TA metrics for the small number of licensees in the U.S.-Mexican border not yet under contract,” Sprint said. The FCC approved an order in 2004 that launched the rebanding with a goal of eliminating interference to public safety systems in the 800 MHz band.

The Utilities Telecom Council urged the FCC to reject an application by Spectrum Networks Group (SNG) for a waiver so subsidiary M2M Spectrum Networks can offer a third-party service providing machine-to-machine communications using 900 MHz Business/Industrial/Land Transportation channels (CD July 30 p6). “UTC submits that SNG has not met its burden for obtaining a waiver under the FCC rules,” the group said (http://bit.ly/1k9KLln) in comments posted by the FCC Thursday in 14-100. Motorola Solutions made a similar argument. “SNG has not met its burden to demonstrate that the underlying intent of the Commission’s policies would be preserved by waiving the rule that limits the initial use of the 900 MHz I/B channels to private internal systems,” the equipment maker said (http://bit.ly/1AEmcSH).

ZigBee Alliance board member Philips gave a thumbs down on plans to offer a Bluetooth Smart Mesh version of its Hue LED lighting system patterned after technology championed by U.K. chip maker CSR as a competitor to ZigBee (CD July 10 p13 ). CSR executives have said they were in talks with ZigBee supporters like Philips in hopes of converting them to the Bluetooth Smart Mesh system. Philips “will continue to innovate to help our customers realize all the possibilities the digitalization and personalization of light presents,” the company emailed us. “It is not our policy to comment on other products or products we have in the pipeline, but in this case we want to draw your attention to a number of benefits we provide over Bluetooth enabled bulbs. We believe that these capabilities deliver more meaning to our customers.” For one thing, Hue enables control from anywhere in the house and “out-of-home,” and is not a “short-ranged room-based technology,” Philips said. The Hue “ecosystem” also is expandable to include a “full range” of switches and sensors to control lights “in new and innovative ways,” instead of just a smartphone, as the CSR technology entails, it said. “Hue uses open standard connectivity technology enabled by ZigBee LightLink. This means that interoperability between devices from different brands is possible. Bluetooth is only about connectivity and does not enable interoperability on complete products."

Virgin Mobile debuted Virgin Mobile Custom, a customizable cellphone plan with parental controls. The offer allows customers to build personally tailored rate plans, Virgin Mobile said in a news release Wednesday (http://wervirg.in/1o3oF3g). It will be available exclusively to Walmart customers beginning Aug. 9, it said. Pricing information will be displayed in real-time, giving customers an exact amount of what their mobile monthly charge will be before they confirm their selections, it said.

The FCC sought comment on seven petitions for reconsideration of its March 31 order that opens up the 5.1 GHz band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use (http://fcc.us/XffL9d). The order also harmonizes rules for this new U-NII-1 band with rules for the U-NII-3 band. Cambium Networks, JAB Wireless and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association questioned the strict out-of-band emissions limits in the higher-powered 5.8 GHz region of the band (http://bit.ly/WNa5U2). Oppositions to the petitions must be filed by Aug. 14, replies Aug. 25, said an FCC notice Wednesday in the Federal Register (http://1.usa.gov/1lXFcSb).

The FCC Public Safety Bureau approved a request by Chesapeake Operating for a waiver of commission rules allowing the energy company to operate a private land mobile radio system using Automated Maritime Telecommunications System (AMTS) spectrum in southwest Texas. The bureau approved the use of five of six sites where Chesapeake proposed to install transmitters (http://bit.ly/WNnZpe). The company plans to use the spectrum for a communications system to provide advanced Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) technologies for its natural gas exploration and production, the bureau said. Eagle Creek Broadcasting had objected because of a potential interference risk for one of its stations, KVTV in Laredo, Texas. In response, the bureau denied the application for a single transmitter site in Cotulla, Texas, but allowed installation of the network at five other sites. “We remind Chesapeake that AMTS stations are authorized on the condition that no harmful interference will be caused to reception of existing television stations,” the bureau said. “AMTS licensees are expected to help resolve interference complaints, and must cure any impermissible interference to television reception ... or discontinue operation of the station.” The order was approved by the bureau Tuesday and released Wednesday.

The FCC set a comment cycle Wednesday on a complicated deal in which AT&T and T-Mobile propose to swap PCS and AWS-1 licenses in parts of 10 states (http://bit.ly/WNlwLl). Petitions to deny are due Aug. 20, oppositions Sept. 2 and replies Sept. 9. The FCC said the swaps involve spectrum in 76 counties covering “all or parts” of 25 cellular market areas (http://bit.ly/1oLWCWR). The trade satisfies in part a commitment by AT&T to divest spectrum as part of its acquisition of Leap Wireless, AT&T said. “The Applicants assert that the instant transaction would allow them to operate more efficiently due to holding larger blocks of contiguous spectrum and/or aligning spectrum blocks with those already held in adjacent market,” the FCC said. The commission asked interested parties to raise issues in their initial filings, not in replies.

Representatives of business groups met with FCC Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau staff to push for a ruling on a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) decision sought by United Healthcare Services. United Healthcare had asked the FCC to find that a company is not liable for violating the TCPA for autodialed and prerecorded calls made after a wireless subscriber’s phone number has changed (http://bit.ly/1i6pAfm). Among those represented at the meeting were the American Bankers Association, the American Financial Services Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 02-278. “The record in this proceeding reflects strong support from both organizations and consumers for granting the Petition, which will ensure that wireless consumers can continue to benefit from the important non-telemarketing, informational calls that they have consented to receive,” the groups said (http://bit.ly/1rNfFm2).

The FCC March 15 spectrum aggregation order, while helping to bring some closure to the issue of spectrum holdings, may raise more questions for companies seeking to combine, said wireless industry lawyer Angela Giancarlo of Mayer Brown, in a report published by Bloomberg BNA (http://bit.ly/1s25V4Z). Giancarlo pointed to the commission’s suggestion that, under the new policies, certain entities proposing to merge may face restrictions in the forward part of the TV incentive auction of 600 MHz spectrum. By adding 101 megahertz of 2.5 GHz spectrum to the screen, the commission raises the specter of significant and potentially unsolvable issues in the event it receives a transaction application involving this band, she wrote.