Microsoft said it signed a patent licensing agreement with Motorola Solutions that covers Motorola devices on both the Android platform and the Chrome operating systems that use Microsoft patents. “Microsoft prefers licensing to litigation, since licensing is a more effective way to share technology and accelerate the pace of innovation,” said Nick Psyhogeos, associate general counsel-IP licensing for Microsoft’s Innovation and Intellectual Property Group, in a Monday news release (http://bit.ly/1eWEiHM).

Gogo urged the FCC to adopt a five-year substantial service deadline for Qualcomm’s proposed 14 GHz air-to-ground (ATG) mobile broadband service. Developing new equipment, obtaining initial Federal Aviation Administration certification for the airborne components and constructing the base stations needed to cover U.S. airspace “could easily be achieved in less than five years,” it said in an ex parte filing in docket 13-114 (http://bit.ly/1jrEtXD). To the extent the FCC is concerned that a new entrant might require additional time to complete an ATG network, the FCC should establish an alternative substantial service formulation, Gogo said. Within four years, the licensee should be required to demonstrate that it has met an interim construction benchmark, Gogo said. The licensee should be required to make its final substantial service showing within seven years, Gogo said. This benchmark will help ensure “that licensees work diligently to construct their networks, and that the spectrum is not warehoused,” it said.

The FCC’s proposed spectrum aggregation rules for the TV incentive auction “reflect what the marketplace has known for years: that low-band spectrum is particularly well suited for wireless services -- especially in rural America,” said Roger Cox, chief financial officer of Atlantic Telephone Membership Corp., in a written statement. “No one or two carriers should be allowed to run the table and foreclose all others from gaining access to low-band spectrum,” Cox said. “Smaller carriers need assurance that they will have real opportunities to meaningfully participate in order to raise capital and prepare to enter the auction.” The spectrum aggregation rules are slated for a vote at the FCC’s May 15 open meeting (CD April 21 p1).

The FCC is continuing to clamp down on audio equipment makers for violating its digital device rules, most recently, a fine to professional audio supplier Peavey Electronics, said wireless lawyer Mitchell Lazarus of Fletcher Heald in a post on the law firm’s blog Sunday (http://bit.ly/1r9nfEo). “Are there no music lovers at the FCC?” Lazarus asked. “Perhaps not in the Enforcement Bureau, which over the last few years has singled out audio and music companies for large fines relating to the FCC’s digital device rules.” Lazarus doesn’t represent Peavey. He said the lessons to be drawn are clear. “In none of the recent cases had any of the equipment actually been shown to cause interference,” he said. “There are not even allegations that the equipment exceeded the FCC’s technical limits. A few of the cases charged the manufacturer with not properly testing the equipment for compliance. ... In the remaining cases, including Peavey, the only offenses involved missing labels and information in the instruction manuals. But the penalties are still substantial."

The FCC Public Safety Bureau denied a request by the Skagit County Fire Protection District 5 in Washington state to use frequency 170.150 MHz for vehicular repeaters as part of its public safety radio system. NTIA had recommended the waiver be denied, the bureau said Friday. The 162.0375-173.2 MHz frequency band, which includes the frequency, is allocated to fixed and mobile services on a primary basis for federal use, the bureau said (http://bit.ly/1jfdgs8). Denial of the waiver prevents “Skagit from causing harmful interference to Federal operations operating in accordance with the Table of Frequency Allocations,” it said.

Facebook unveiled an opt-in location-based mobile feature to let users see which connections are geographically nearby, the company said in a blog post (http://bit.ly/Rstas3). “If you turn on Nearby Friends, you'll occasionally be notified when friends are nearby, so you can get in touch with them and meet up,” said Product Manager Andrea Vaccari in the Thursday post. Users also may set a specific location for a distinct period of time, she said. Vaccari said the feature will be available on Android and iPhone in the U.S. “over the coming weeks."

The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition is open to Battelle Memorial Institute’s request for a rulemaking for service rules in the 102-109.5 GHz band but thinks the band should potentially be used for short links and small cell operations, the coalition told the FCC in reply comments (http://bit.ly/1lgzonq). Battelle had requested, as part of its February petition, a rulemaking that focused on long links. There also shouldn’t be any minimum antenna gain requirement, as Battelle had requested, the coalition said. The coalition countered Battelle on the point of how congested the 70 GHz and 87 GHz bands are, saying “areas with any appreciable congestion are actually extremely limited.”

The FCC denied applications from Phyllis Wilson and Robert Wilson to waive commission rules restricting assignment of 800 MHz licenses before stations have been constructed. Phyllis Wilson and Robert Wilson separately hold licenses the FCC granted in September for 800 MHz Trunked Specialized Mobile Radio Stations -- Phyllis Wilson holds a license for Station WQSF861 in West Des Moines, Iowa, while Robert Wilson has a license for Station WQSG679 in Sioux Falls, S.D. The FCC had originally granted the license for Station WQSG679 to John Wilson, but allowed the license to transfer to his brother, Robert Wilson, in January after John Wilson died. Phyllis Wilson filed in January to transfer her license to Zalman Sirota, while Robert Wilson filed in February to transfer his license to Jeffrey Downs. Both said they are no longer able to construct the stations because of changes in financial situation and other circumstances. The FCC said Friday it was denying both requests because neither party had demonstrated grounds for receiving a waiver. The commission said it had warned Phyllis Wilson at the time of her license application that a lack of financing would not be grounds for a future waiver. Phyllis Wilson also claimed she did not have as much time as originally anticipated to construct her station because the FCC issued her license later than expected, which the FCC said Friday “does not entitle her to relief.” The FCC said Robert Wilson “appears to be no differently situated from any other licensee who acquired a license for an unconstructed 800 MHz station by involuntary assignment upon the licensee’s death. The rule does not authorize such involuntary licensees to further assign the licenses prior to station construction” (http://bit.ly/1eRjwcQ).

The FCC Public Safety Bureau extended a freeze on non-rebanding related 800 MHz applications along the Canadian border for Washington state, but not for other border states. The FCC imposed the freeze Oct. 14, 2008, for Wave 4 800 MHz licensees in the U.S.-Canada border regions. “As of this date, some border region licensees in Washington State have yet to complete their system re-tunes,” said a Friday order by the bureau (http://fcc.us/1hTnnWe). “Accordingly, to preserve currently vacant channels for use by these licensees and avoid potential licensing conflicts that could delay rebanding, we have determined that temporarily extending the freeze in NPSPAC Region 43 (Washington State) is in the public interest."

T-Mobile representatives laid out their vision of rules the FCC could approve to guarantee the most vibrant use of the 3.5 GHz band, the subject of a rulemaking scheduled for a vote at Wednesday’s open meeting, in a series of meetings at the FCC. The FCC is looking at use of the 3.5 GHz band by small cells and as a large-scale test site for spectrum sharing. “We stressed that T-Mobile supports both licensed and unlicensed use of the 3.5 GHz band and urged the Commission to designate sufficient spectrum for licensed use to drive investment and technology adoption,” T-Mobile said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1lgnOZB). “We highlighted the importance of certainty for licensed users of the band. That certainty can be enhanced by, among other things, longer license terms and renewal expectancies.”