“Ongoing” 5G deployments in China drove Marvell Technology’s networking business to 23% year-over-year revenue growth in fiscal Q2 ended Aug. 1, said CEO Matt Murphy on a Thursday investor call. Revenue in the sector jumped 3% from fiscal Q1, Marvell’s fourth straight quarter of sequential revenue growth from the wireless infrastructure market “as we benefited from the start of the 5G transition,” through design wins at four of the world’s top five tier 1 base station OEMs, he said. Marvell is “on track” to start shipping 5G basebands to Nokia and processors “customized” for massive multiple-input and multiple-output applications to Samsung later this year, said Murphy. “We a lot of wind at our back in terms of the 5G business.”

Rules for a C-band auction starting Dec. 8, approved by commissioners this month (see 2008060069), were published in Friday's Federal Register.

Working out a sale price for T-Mobile to buy Shenandoah Telecommunications' wireless operations (see 2008270048) could take months, Shentel said Thursday. “The Notice of Dispute triggered the dispute resolution process set out in the affiliate agreement and may lead the parties to extend or otherwise adjust the timeline for the appraisal process and purchase under the terms of the affiliate agreement,” Shentel said. The company “will provide updates on any material developments as warranted.”

T-Mobile is hoping to take the bite out of 5G smartphone pricing with the Revvl 5G, tagged at $399. The 5G phone is $200, after 24 monthly bill credits, for consumers switching or adding a line, said the carrier Thursday. Nearly six in 10 consumers familiar with 5G are worried about the high cost, it said. The Android phone has a 6.5-inch Full HD+ display, triple rear camera with a 48-megapixel main camera, plus super-wide and macro cameras and a 16-megapixel selfie camera. The phone will operate on T-Mobile’s 600 MHz and 2.5 GHz 5G spectrum. The wireless carrier said this month it was expanding 5G coverage by 30%, making it the first to launch a commercial nationwide standalone 5G network, covering 250 million people (see 2008040036). T-Mobile also launched the Revvl 4 ($120) and Revvl4+ ($192) on the LTE network. Availability is Sept. 4.

Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, explained the group’s push for prompt action on the 5.9 GHz band (see 2008210044) in calls with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-138. “Reallocating all 75 megahertz of the unused 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use and authorizing [vehicle-to-everything] in a new public safety band, particularly the 4.9 GHz band, can achieve the optimal win-win for consumers and the U.S. economy,” Calabrese said. 5G Automotive Association representatives emphasized in a call with a Pai aide the growing use of cellular V2X. Ford “plans to deploy C-V2X Direct throughout its vehicle fleet pending favorable Commission action in this proceeding, and many other automakers, including Fiat Chrysler, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tesla, among others, also have endorsed this technology,” 5GAA said: “This growing momentum is also reflected in planned and operational infrastructure deployments of C-V2X Direct technology in Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Virginia, and -- most recently -- Hawaii.”

NCTA and other Wi-Fi advocates told aides to the three Republican FCC commissioners an “updated and expanded” technical analysis by CableLabs shows the agency can safely make further changes to its 6 GHz rules. “We discussed the importance of authorizing low power indoor unlicensed operations in the band at 8 dBm/MHz power spectral density to ensure that new 6 GHz Wi-Fi devices can efficiently utilize the significant new bandwidth to deliver next-generation multi-gigabit Wi-Fi with the whole-home coverage and throughput Wi-Fi consumers experience and expect today,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295: “We appreciate the Commission’s need to take a conservative approach in unleashing expansive new Wi-Fi bandwidth, given the important incumbents operating in the band, and have completed additional, more comprehensive technical work to respond to its concerns and conclusively show that the Commission can create substantially more value and significantly reduce consumer costs for Wi-Fi without compromising critical incumbent protections.” Representatives of CableLabs, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Enterprises and Midcontinent Communications participated in the calls. The same parties spoke with the aides about the importance of an FCC vote reallocating part of the 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi, said a filing in docket 19-138. The spectrum is “key to delivering gigabit Wi-Fi and much-needed unlicensed capacity to American consumers in the very near term,” they said.

A federal court dismissed an ExteNet small-cells lawsuit against Cambridge, Massachusetts. The wireless infrastructure provider said the city’s Pole and Conduit Commission improperly denied its applications by not giving timely notice that applications were incomplete. ExteNet claimed the denials effectively prohibited wireless service provision and unreasonably discriminated against the company in violation of FCC orders and the Telecom Act including sections 253 and 332. The U.S. District Court of Massachusetts disagreed in a Wednesday decision. “ExteNet has cited no authority suggesting that denying an application based on incompleteness is a shot clock violation,” wrote Judge Allison Burroughs. ExteNet failed to state a claim for relief for a prohibition of service under either the FCC’s 2018 declaratory order or the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' “Significant Coverage Gap” standard, the judge said. ExteNet failed to show the city’s small-cells policy “materially inhibits or limits the ability of any competitor to compete in a fair regulatory environment, she said. “ExteNet has not shown that there is a competing provider who is its functional equivalent or that Defendants have unreasonably discriminated.” ExteNet declined comment Thursday. Localities might challenge a 9th Circuit ruling last week that mostly upheld the FCC’s 2018 wireless infrastructure orders (see 2008250023).

Microsoft urged the FCC to stick with a proposal to increase the effective isotropic radiated power limit of fixed white space devices (WSD) from 40 dBm to 42 dBm in less congested areas and increase the height above average terrain (HAAT) of antennas from 250 to 500 meters, also in less congested areas. “Microsoft believes the Commission’s proposed coordination procedures for WSDs operating at a HAAT greater than 250 meters provides protection to incumbent operations from receiving harmful interference without being overly burdensome on the affected Wireless Internet Service Provider and the White Spaces Database Administrator,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 20-36. Commissioners approved a Further NPRM on white spaces rules 5-0 in February (see 2002280055). The Office of Engineering and Technology Wednesday said RED Technologies is now administrator of the white space database previously overseen by Nominet UK, as a result of a transfer of ownership and control.

The FCC is set to publish updated rules for finding the vertical location of wireless callers to 911 wireless in the Federal Register Thursday, and parts are to be effective Sept. 28. Commissioners approved the rules in July over a dissent by Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2007160055). The FCC must still announce a compliance date for parts of the rules.

Ultra-wideband-enabled smartphone shipments will increase from 42 million handsets in 2019 to nearly 514 million in 2025, about a third of the global smartphone market, reported ABI Research Wednesday. It forecasts shipments of more than 2 billion between 2019 and 2025. “Smartphones will see an increase in the integration of UWB, providing users with the ability to accurately locate other UWB-enabled devices, unlock doors or vehicles, and automatically wireless pay for products,” said ABI. “While other devices will also have the ability to provide these use cases and others, the vast shipment numbers associated with smartphones will allow the devices to lead the UWB market.” UWB has the long-term potential to become as “ubiquitous as Bluetooth within smartphones,” it said. Challenges abound, including the complex integration of antennas, the current high cost of components and infrastructure and “the limited awareness around what the technology provides over others,” said ABI.