Groups representing educational broadband service licensees asked to delay a 2.5 GHz auction until after a better FCC inventory of available areas. Dish Network endorses the single-round auction format sought by T-Mobile, in replies posted through Friday in docket 20-429. T-Mobile, which hopes for a 2021 auction, cited problems with the inventory (see 2105040077). “Past Commission Chairs have routinely announced when auctions will be conducted even before the Commission proposes procedures for the auction,” T-Mobile said: “Commenters have already provided substantial information" for updating the licensing database. “Implement a process to update and correct the inventory prior to the auction,” said the National EBS Association. “The inventory should not include county/frequency blocks where there is no white space at all, or where the white space is entirely over water, or where the white space has no population.” The list must be “completely accurate,” the Catholic Technology Network said. The North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation and Mobile Beacon urged an updated database first. Dish saw “substantial support” for a single-round auction: “DISH agrees with several commenters, and the Commission itself, that a single round auction with pay-as-bid pricing will promote diverse auction participation and give smaller providers a chance to get the spectrum they need.” If the FCC adopts a simultaneous multiple-round format, keep the rules simple and consistent with past auctions, Dish said. SMR is “generally a superior method for allocating spectrum than a single bid format,” AT&T said: “But, as the Notice and comments confirm, the circumstances here are far from ordinary, and the commenters who support an SMR format fail to engage.” Verizon saw broad SMR support. Nationwide carriers to “small and rural carriers” agree that “will create a more competitive auction that enables bidders of all sizes to have a fair shot,” Verizon said: “Many bidders prefer the certainty that comes with better price discovery.” The Wireless ISP Association sought a single round auction that’s “neither novel nor untested.”

Zebra asked the FCC to act on its waiver request this summer to operate its Dart positioning system in the 7.125-8.5 GHz band, in a call with Office of Engineering and Technology staff. Zebra “answered questions from FCC staff regarding operational and technical matters,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-17. OET sought comment last year (see 2001150016). The system is primarily used to track balls and players at NFL facilities.

Anterix and Motorola Solutions said Thursday they’re working together to help utilities deploy private LTE networks, using the 900 MHz spectrum the FCC cleared for broadband a year ago (see 2005130057). Anterix also announced an agreement with Nokia to combine the 900 MHz spectrum with Nokia's private LTE/4.9G wireless infrastructure “so that utility companies can more easily deploy private LTE solutions that support advanced communications for modernizing their grids.”

Gogo Business Aviation asked for limited waiver of FCC effective radiated power limits for air-to-ground operations in the 849-851 MHz and 894-896 MHz bands for a next-generation system. The system uses orthogonal frequency division multiplex technology “to improve throughput, coverage, and reliability for inflight connectivity to aircraft in the United States and Canada,” said a Thursday posting: “A narrow waiver permitting the current ERP rules to be measured as limits on the maximum average power, rather than peak power, will allow Gogo … to maximize the utility of its next-generation system, similar to other mobile wireless licensees.”

The FCC plans an online open radio access network solutions showcase June 29 at 9:30 a.m. EDT, it said Thursday. The agency invites presentations on equipment, it said. The event will give fixed and mobile network operators "an opportunity to hear directly from vendors whose interoperable, open interface, standards-based 5G network equipment and services will be ready and available for purchase and installation by January 1, 2022, if not sooner."

The Federal Railroad Administration seeks comment by June 7 on requests for amendments by 19 railroads on their FRA-certified positive train control systems, said Wednesday Federal Register. CSX, Union Pacific, Amtrak and regional and commuter lines sought modifications.

Comments are due June 28, replies July 26, in docket 21-186 on the Office of Engineering and Technology and Wireless Bureau seeking comment on aligning FCC rules with unwanted emissions limits into the passive 23.6-24 GHz band adopted by the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2019, says Thursday's Federal Register.

Ignore Microsoft-sought changes to an FCC order relaxing distributed transmission system interference rules (see 2105240067) and other TV white spaces changes, NAB Associate General Counsel Patrick McFadden blogged Tuesday. About 300 functioning TVWS devices are in U.S. use, he said. “Filings from Microsoft and its allies are going to exceed the number of functioning white spaces devices in the country any minute,” McFadden said: “If white spaces is a workable technology with a role to play in rural broadband … Microsoft really, really doesn’t need yet more help.” The company didn’t comment.

Boeing urged the FCC to act on a rulemaking on service rules to enable use of the 5030-5091 MHz band for unmanned aircraft systems, in a call with FCC Wireless Bureau staff. “Lack of access to licensed spectrum for UAS command and control is not merely a hypothetical problem that will be felt once UAS technologies are deployed at scale, but a real, ongoing problem that is impacting the industry’s ability to develop these systems today.” A filing posted Tuesday in RM-11798 said Boeing recently received FCC experimental authority to test one UAS technology, but the FAA required use of licensed spectrum.

Communications Workers of America slammed Verizon for “pressuring” the FCC to “rush the review” of its proposed buy of Tracfone. “Days after Verizon and TracFone submitted more than 21,000 pages of documents in response to concerns raised about the transaction, the companies asked the FCC to ‘move expeditiously to approve’ the merger,” CWA said Tuesday. “A transaction this important should not be rushed.” Verizon is “encouraging the FCC to act in accordance with the same timeline we’ve been anticipating since the deal was announced last year,” a spokesperson said: The sooner the FCC acts, “the sooner consumers will benefit from it. We have no reason to believe that the approval will or should be delayed.” Also Tuesday, CEO Hans Vestberg said Verizon expects the deal to close before the end of September: “We're going to be the biggest value player in the market.”