The FCC Wireless Bureau granted thousands of licenses won by bidders in the upper 37, 39 and 47 GHz band auction. Verizon’s Straight Path, AT&T’s FiberTower and T-Mobile were among those with large numbers granted Thursday. Twenty-eight bidders won a total of 14,142 licenses in the auction, which ended March 5 (see 2003120054). The three major national carriers dominated the auction.

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly asked Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette for help in better coordinating “building codes, construction techniques and materials, and wireless communications coverage.” The FCC and DOE should “collaborate more extensively in order to produce thoughtful building codes that will not only allow the Department to fulfill its mission, but also expand wireless spectrum opportunities, and thus facilitate more consumer uses,” O’Rielly said in a letter posted Thursday. DOE's effort to improve the energy and thermal efficiency of buildings “has had an impact on wireless signals near and within these structures,” he said: “Higher energy efficiency requirements, construction techniques and the use of certain materials, such as metal-coated windows, double-pane windows, and metal foil barriers, have increased … building entry and exit loss.” The need for spectrum efficiency is increasing as consumer demand for wireless continues to grow, he said.

CTA asked the FCC to allow the presale of new RF devices to the public prior to equipment authorization. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly urged the change earlier Tuesday (see 2006020069). CTA wants the U.S. to keep up in 5G. “While founded on a laudable goal -- ensuring public safety -- as a practical matter, certain provisions in the Commission’s equipment marketing and importation rules are now arcane and counterproductive," the group said: “Companies are not permitted to engage in presales of their not-yet-authorized technology products on a conditional basis to the general public, only to wholesalers and retailers.” Section 2.803(c)(2) of FCC rules, dating to the 1970s is “outdated” and doesn’t reflect market realities, CTA said. "Allowing conditional sales to consumers prior to the official grant of authorization would give manufacturers a better sense of end-user demand, help smaller manufacturers reserve factory space and attract investors, and reduce waste."

ATIS is developing a power standard to speed deployment of 5G, small cells and other distributed networks, a process expected to take at least a year. “The work addresses the need for a standard for remotely powering distributed devices that consume more than the 100-Watt constraint identified by other industry standards,” ATIS said Tuesday.

T-Mobile said Monday it now has 5G coverage in all 50 states, after inking a deal with GCI allowing subscribers with 5G phones to roam in Anchorage. GCI customers can roam on T-Mobile’s network nationwide.

Adopt standards by the IEEE rather than the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), the IEEE International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety said in RF comments posted Monday in docket 19-226. The FCC proposed to adopt limits "similar to the ICNIRP 2010 guidelines at frequencies between 3 kHz and 10 MHz,” the committee said. “Such a proposal lacks clear and compelling scientific justification,” it said: “Unlike the ICNIRP guidelines, the IEEE standard provides correspondence between external exposure limits and internal dose limits, such that compliance can be conducted accurately with a straightforward environmental measurement. The Commission’s proposed approach, lacking this correspondence, may likely impose restrictions that could unnecessarily burden operators in this spectrum.” The committee also recommended a “more conservative curve for localized exposure limits” above 6 GHz. The comments respond to a December NPRM (see 1912040036).

Mobile broadband propagation maps should reflect standards in the March broadband data law (see 2003240049), CTIA and member companies said in a call with staff from the FCC Wireless and Wireline bureaus, Office of Engineering and Technology and Office of Economics and Analytics. CTIA supports coverage requirements of “not less than 5/1 Mbps at the cell edge with 90% probability and 50% cell loading factor,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 19-195. AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon participated in the call. Use of the standards will lead to maps that “reflect markedly more granular and precise data, and more closely reflect consumers’ experience,” the filing said.

The effectiveness date of a December RF order (see 1912040036) is pending and not Monday, as previously announced, the FCC says in Tuesday's Federal Register: Rule changes still need OMB OK under the Paperwork Reduction Act.

The FCC Wireless Bureau granted an emergency special temporary authority request by the Makah Tribe Friday to use unassigned spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band to offer wireless broadband service at its reservation as part of an emergency COVID-19 pandemic response. The reservation is in Washington state and the stay expires in 60 days.

The FCC likely needs to seek comment before starting to collect data in compliance with the March broadband data law (see 2003240049) to “improve the reliability of maps,” said the Competitive Carriers Association. Consider signal strength, face margin and cell-edge speed among other issues, CCA said. Its representatives had a call with staff from the Wireless and Wireline bureaus and Office of Economics and Analytics, said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-195.