The FCC should reconsider its plan for dealing with interservice interference after the incentive auction, said NAB and Sprint in reconsideration petitions posted Friday in docket 12-268. The commission's method for predicting interference from TV stations to wireless uses “severely underestimates the real-world level of interference that could result,” Sprint said. FCC methodology is “unnecessarily complex, will not lead to accurate predictions and creates needless uncertainty and risk for bidders in the forward auction,” said NAB. The association also took the commission to task for not instituting a cap on interference and population losses in the repacking, a complaint in tune with its ongoing court challenge against the incentive auction order for not sufficiently protecting broadcast coverage areas. The NAB petition also uses language commonly associated with the threat of litigation: “The Commission should revisit its arbitrary and capricious treatment of aggregate caps on such losses.” Sprint wants the FCC to use a different statistical measure for calculating interference within a 600 MHz spectrum block, while NAB wants to completely revamp the commission's approach to the problem. Adopting a simpler methodology would “increase confidence that winning bidders in the forward auction will actually be able to deploy service using the licenses they have won,” NAB said.

Projected difficulties with interference between wireless and broadcast signals after the incentive auction and repacking are largely caused by FCC use of a variable rather than nationwide band plan, said NAB in comments in docket 14-14, responding to a public notice on interservice interference, called the ISIX PN. CEA, CTIA and engineering firm Cohen Dippell made suggestions on how the problems associated with interservice interference could be addressed. NAB’s suggestion that the FCC completely redo the band plan was the most sweeping. The FCC “could make its own job simpler, reduce the number of points of potential failure during the auction, present clearer, more attractive offers to bidders, and avoid an unnecessarily jumbled post-auction interference environment by pursuing a nationwide band plan,” said NAB.

The AWS-3 auction is on holiday hiatus, to restart Jan. 5, but ended the day Tuesday with $44.5 billion in provisionally winning the bids, a record for an FCC auction. The auction has far exceeded most expectations, including at the commission, where officials told us their hope was it would meet the reserve price with some money left over to pay for part of the $7 billion startup costs of FirstNet. The auction is the first major spectrum sale by the FCC since the 700 MH auction in early 2008.

Broadcast industry observers are divided over whether interest in the incentive auction expressed by CBS CEO Les Moonves last week is likely to have much effect on potential participation in the incentive auction, they said in interviews Friday.

The AWS-3 auction, which has brought in provisionally winning bids of more than $41 billion so far, could be a game changer for the TV incentive auction, taking pressure off the auction to pay for FirstNet and other expenses that must be recovered through auction proceeds, industry officials said in interviews Friday. Government officials said, even after taking out the costs of relocating government incumbents and other costs, the AWS-3 auction should easily pay the $7 billion startup costs of FirstNet, plus smaller funds for public safety research, 911 grants and other costs that must paid for through auctions under the 2012 law that authorized the incentive auction.

Wireless mic maker Shure asked the FCC to extend by 45 days comment deadlines on two NPRMs examining the future of the devices in 600 MHz spectrum. “An extension is warranted because the Notices propose many substantial changes in technical and operational rules that will require significant evaluation, testing and analysis,” Shure said in a motion filed in docket 12-268: “The filing periods encompass the winter holidays when many team members will be out of the office and traveling.” Without an extension, comments would be due Feb. 19, replies March 12. Shure said the proposed rule changes would “dramatically alter wireless microphone operations and virtually restructure the entire wireless microphone industry” in the U.S. In October, the FCC approved the NPRMs, which seek comment on unlicensed use of the TV spectrum following the incentive auction and more specifically rules for wireless mics.

FCC adoption of two minimum sales prices for spectrum in the incentive auction will discourage competition and lower the amount of money the auction generates for taxpayers, said the Competitive Carriers Association, Computer & Communications Industry Association and T-Mobile in reply comments to oppositions to petitions for reconsideration in docket 12-268 Monday, the deadline for such comments. In their own filings, the New America Foundation and Public Knowledge disagreed with the WMTS Coalition over whether petitions opposing unlicensed use in Channel 37 are premature. Low-power TV interests and Sennheiser asked the FCC to overturn some auction decisions, and NAB attacked CTIA’s “cheerleading” for FCC decisions that “abrogate the rights of broadcasters.” CTIA’s “wholehearted support for each of the Commission’s decisions harming broadcasters draws into sharp focus exactly how imbalanced the Commission’s Report and Order is,” NAB said.

T-Mobile told the FCC that prospective guidance and predictable enforcement criteria on the “commercially reasonable” standard in the data roaming order “would be invaluable to carriers in negotiating and reaching agreements,” in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 12-268. The carrier also said that in the 600 MHz auction, a four-block maximum reserve would promote competition and expand opportunity “by preventing the dominant players, which already control more than 70 percent of the nation’s low-band spectrum resources, from choking off competitors’ access to the spectrum resources needed to offer wireless services indoors and in rural areas.”

Integrated Device Technology announced a new family of magnetic induction wireless power transmitters for next-generation wireless charging products to be used in wearables, furniture and smartphones. The P9235 and P9236 transmitters are compliant with the latest Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) Qi standard, and the P9234 is a Power Matters Alliance (PMA)-compliant device, it said Thursday. IDT is also introducing a proprietary-mode device that operates at up to 1 MHz of resonance frequency, allowing for a smaller coil, IDT said. The P9230A dual-mode transmitter supports WPC and PMA standards, it said. IDT customers are designing wireless power transmitters into a variety of applications, including mobile phone charging pad stations and wearable applications, said Arman Naghavi, general manager-analog and power division. The new lineup offers customers “greater programmability, ease of use and reduced overall development cost for faster product introduction,” he said. Although this round of transmitters doesn’t support Rezence, the standard from the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), an IDT spokesman told us the company is working with a limited group of qualified customers on magnetic resonance charging. IDT said in September it's working with Intel on developing wireless charging solutions based on magnetic resonance that are expected to be in the market next year. Capabilities touted by the A4WP charging technology include simultaneous charging of lower and higher power devices and the integration of charging devices into tabletops, the companies said. Meanwhile, 17.5 million cars with wireless chargers are expected to sell in 2020, IHS said Thursday. The global market for in-car wireless charging is projected to top $600 million in 2020, it said.

After 22 rounds, the AWS-3 auction has reached more than $28.7 billion in provisionally winning bids, demonstrating strong momentum for the 2016 broadcast spectrum incentive auctions, and showing that Dish Network’s spectrum is of high value, some analysts said. By the end of Round 22, bidding for spectrum covering the New York City area reached more than $1.7 billion, and more than $615 million was bid for spectrum in the Washington, D.C., area, according to the FCC website. AT&T and Verizon are likely top bidders, some analysts said.