Fixed-wireless access is driving 5G use cases, with 15 million subscribers today and “aspirations of over 20 million by 2028,” SBA Communications CEO Brendan Cavanagh told investors Monday as the company released Q3 results (see 2511030038).

SpaceX's proposed purchase of EchoStar's S-band spectrum and AST SpaceMobile's proposed deal for Ligado's L-band spectrum could prompt more mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum transactions, William Blair's Louie DiPalma wrote investors Monday. There are other satellite operators potentially interested in acquiring spectrum, and SpaceX and AST might want more international spectrum, he said, noting that Iridium, Viasat, Globalstar and Omnispace all hold global MSS spectrum rights.

Jeff Johnson, the former vice chair of the FirstNet Authority board, on Sunday criticized Verizon’s approach to offering service to public safety agencies. In a LinkedIn post, he told new Verizon CEO Dan Schulman to “stop trying to harm public safety’s network, FirstNet through your DC lobbyists and consultants.” His comments come as Congress hears calls to end AT&T’s ties to FirstNet (see 2509250060).

The U.S. is entering international spectrum coordination discussions focused on pushing for flexible use policies, supporting spectrum harmonization where it “benefits consumers and global scale,” and “defending the principle that technological progress should not stop at regulatory borders,” FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty said Thursday in remarks at the 14th Americas Spectrum Management Conference. The Americas “must speak with a strong, coordinated voice” in preparation for the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference, “one that emphasizes openness, reciprocity, and innovation over protectionism or fragmentation.”

The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy should work with the FCC and NTIA to “remove barriers to global wireless leadership,” CTIA said in comments filed in response to the OSTP's request for information in connection with the White House AI Action Plan. “Spectrum and infrastructure deployment policies present key opportunities for reform to strengthen U.S. leadership” in AI innovation and adoption. OSTP should ensure that NTIA leads efforts to identify federal spectrum for repurposing, CTIA said. “Prior spectrum analyses required multiple agencies to act as ‘co-leads’ on spectrum studies, which led to unnecessarily long timeframes culminating in unusable reports.” OSTP should also coordinate with the FCC to “evaluate what existing laws and regulations are stifling infrastructure builds and innovation,” the filing said, pointing to the agency’s proceeding on streamlining environmental review policies. In addition, OSTP should promote “a uniform deregulatory approach to AI development and deployment.”

Digicel-Haiti sells calls from the U.S. to Haiti and thus should be subject to the Communications Act, UPM said in a reply brief filed Monday at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. UPM wants the court to reverse FCC decisions backing Digicel-Haiti’s 2014 deactivation of thousands of SIM cards that UPM purchased from a third party, which granted access to a Digicel-Haiti discount roaming plan (see 2506050044). The FCC has ruled that Digicel’s actions didn’t violate the law because it doesn’t qualify as a U.S. carrier. The language of the Communications Act creates jurisdiction over foreign communications originating in the U.S., UPM said. “The mere fact that Digicel is a terminating foreign carrier does not exempt it from the Act when it has taken actions within the U.S. with respect to those calls."

Clearing the upper C band should follow the same process that the FCC employed for clearing the lower C band, SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh told FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. In a docket 25-59 filing Monday recapping Al-Saleh and Carr's meeting, SES said clearing the upper C band will be more complicated than clearing the 3.7-3.98 GHz band, but a similar process with appropriate relocation costs and accelerated clearing payments would speed things up and ensure success.

Dish Network's assertions that it was excused from making payments on its master lease agreement because of its plan to sell spectrum prompted American Tower to sue, CEO Steven Vondran said. The preemptive lawsuit against Dish "is to make sure that there's no interruption" in its lease payments, he said in a call Tuesday with analysts. American Tower's agreement with Dish, which runs through 2036, represents about 4% of the company's U.S. and Canada property revenue. "We feel good about our contract [and] the collectability on it," Vondran said.

Much of the opposition to a 5G-based terrestrial positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) system as a complement to GPS has "troubling connections" to Chinese entities, conservative group the Bull Moose Project said Thursday (docket 18-89). Substantial opposition from groups like the LoRa Alliance, RAIN Alliance, Security Industry Association, Wi-Sun Alliance and Z-Wave Alliance seems "designed to stall progress rather than solve a major national security threat," the Bull Moose Project said. It said those groups count Chinese companies such as ZTE, Shenzhen Makerfabs, Zhejiang Chint Electrics, Ningbo Dooya Mechanic & Electronic Technology and Taixin Semiconductor as members, and representatives of the groups have been vocal in the FCC’s PNT proceeding. The groups' opposition sometimes seems "less concerned about interference and more about stalling competition, favoring alternative approaches, or protecting China’s strategic edge and keeping America vulnerable to a single point of failure," Bull Moose Project added.

The supplemental coverage from space service that SpaceX plans to offer using AWS-H block spectrum rights, which it intends to buy from EchoStar, wouldn't include Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the satellite operators. In a docket 25-302 filing posted Wednesday, the companies said that's because the AWS-H block license for those territories was sold to Liberty Latin America in 2024. The filing recapped a meeting that SpaceX and EchoStar representatives had with staffers from the FCC Wireless and Space bureaus and the Office of General Counsel.