The Free State Foundation is questioning how much the Biden administration is accomplishing in its national spectrum strategy. While the identification of five spectrum bands totaling 2,786 MHz of spectrum for near-term study “at first glance may appear to represent real progress, the bottom line is that there is no guarantee that a single megahertz of that total will be repurposed,” FSF said in comments filed Tuesday at NTIA: “While making available sufficient unlicensed spectrum is an important objective, what is perhaps immediately concerning is the fact that the Strategy fails to identify sufficient mid-band spectrum that could be licensed on an exclusive basis, thereby jeopardizing our nation's ability to compete effectively in the global race to 5G.” Comments were due Tuesday on an implementation plan for the strategy (see 2311290038) and are expected to be vetted and posted by NTIA.

NTIA reiterated support for "modernizing and expanding access to the 70/80/90 GHz” bands, saying in a filing last week in FCC docket 20-13 that the commission can make changes "while protecting both the Earth Exploration Satellite Service (EESS) and federal fixed satellite service sites." The FCC sought additional comment on the spectrum in October, following receipt of an earlier letter from NTIA, which addressed Aeronet’s proposed use of frequencies at 71-76 and 81-86 GHz (see 2311080055). The recent letter was addressed to the chiefs of the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology.

Manufacturing company Jabil announced Friday it completed the divestiture of its mobility business to BYD Electronic in a cash deal valued at $2.2 billion. “We are pleased to successfully close this transformational deal and I am confident that this is the right step forward for Jabil,” said CEO Kenny Wilson: “The net proceeds will enable us to enhance our shareholder-centric capital framework, including incremental share buybacks. Additionally, it will provide opportunities for further investment in key areas of our business.”

Carriers need additional spectrum and the FCC shouldn't allocate the 7190-7235 MHz band to the space research service or the 7190-7250 MHz band to the Earth exploration satellite service on a secondary basis for nonfederal use, Verizon said in comments on an NPRM about implementing World Radiocommunication Conference decisions from 2015 and 2019. CTIA offered a similar view (see 2311290040). The record also supports a proposal removing the broadcasting service allocation in the 698-758, 775-788 and 805-806 MHz bands “consistent with the Commission’s transition of the 700 MHz band from television broadcasting use to public safety and mobile broadband uses,” Verizon said in a filing Thursday in docket 23-121. “Data usage on Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network increased 249 percent between January 2021 and June 2022,” the carrier said: “Demand for wireless networks is only expected to increase, with some estimates suggesting that mobile data traffic could grow nearly four-fold by 2028. There is also increasing demand for fixed wireless access solutions, such as Verizon’s 5G Home Internet and LTE Home Internet services.”

Airbus Zephyr is showing new possibilities for providing low-latency wireless broadband to a large area without terrestrial facilities, Mobilocity analyst Gerry Purdy said Wednesday in a note to subscribers. The project uses a high-altitude platform station on “an innovative new solar-powered plane that can stay aloft for months over a given area flying at 70,000 feet -- well above the flight paths of commercial airlines,” Purdy said. Zephyr is a joint project of Saudi Arabia’s Salam Telecommunications and Mawarid Media and Communications, working with Airbus, he said. Initial plans call for Zephyr “to provide communication and internet services to mountain regions, remote islands and maritime areas as well as any other areas in which there is a need for cellular service,” Purdy said.

Technology provider Ettifos is seeking a waiver from the FCC to deploy cellular vehicle-to-everything technology in the 5.9 GHz band on highways and at intersections. “With the deployment of such applications, we expect to see reduced traffic accidents, increased traffic efficiency and increased safety for vulnerable road users,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 19-138. “The public would benefit from our deployments as we can provide real-time road information to drivers for decision-making and support other warnings from existing sensors they may already have in their vehicle,” Ettifos said.

The Department of Commerce will seek comment for 30 additional days on forms for the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund Grant Program, according to a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register. The program is a $1.5 billion federal fund aimed at spurring growth of open radio access networks and advanced spectrum sharing. "We invite the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden," the notice said. Public comments were previously requested on Oct. 4 during a 60-day period: “This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.”

The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecom Services Sector has reviewed T-Mobile’s proposed buy of Ka’ena, best known for Mint Mobile, a low-cost prepaid wireless brand, and has no objections, said a letter posted Tuesday in docket 23-171. T-Mobile announced the proposed buy in March (see 2303150032). The committee was previously known as Team Telecom.

AT&T urged the FCC to proceed cautiously in approving the launch of 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) operators following public trials. “AT&T was an active participant in these public trials and AT&T appreciates the efforts of these AFC System applicants to work with AT&T to identify the source of discrepancies between AFC System calculated results for standard power device scenarios and the values calculated by AT&T,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-352: “AT&T does not believe the results of the public trials warrant deferring action on these applications, although AT&T does suggest that any grant of final AFC System authority be conditioned to ensure continued compliance with inter-industry agreements and to require some unresolved matters to be addressed within those inter-industry organizations.” AT&T noted that some of the tests “brought to light different practices and illustrated that reasonable engineers can differ with respect to how the same basic propagation calculations are implemented.”

NTIA will host a public symposium on Feb. 1 focusing on implementation of the national spectrum strategy, a notice for Wednesday’s Federal Register said. Officials announced plans for the symposium at a meeting last week of the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (see 2312190076). The symposium begins at 9 a.m. EST at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. NTIA announced in a second notice it’s seeking applications for CSMAC membership for the group's new term. Applications are due Jan. 31, for a two-year tenure expected to start in June. Under terms of the committee’s charter, CSMAC must have at least five members, but not more than 30, who serve as special government employees. “The committee’s membership will be fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented by members and the functions to be performed,” NTIA said: “Its membership will reflect a cross-section of interests in spectrum management and policy, including non-Federal spectrum users; State, regional, and local sectors; technology developers and manufacturers; academia; civil society; and service providers with customers in both domestic and international markets.”