Microsoft representatives updated FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel on the company’s Rural Airband Initiative and “discussed how White Spaces technologies provide broadband access to underserved and rural Americans,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. The company sought action on its May request for a Further NPRM on the TV white spaces (see 1905030050). “We noted that adopting the proposals in the petition would expand rural broadband access, facilitate connected school buses and agricultural vehicles, advance the internet of things including precision agriculture, and support other connectivity solutions,” Microsoft said.

Southern Linc and Cellular South representatives asked the FCC Public Safety Bureau staff to grant Colorado's Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority (BRETSA) petitions for declaratory ruling or rulemaking on interoperability on the FirstNet network. The BRETSA request has been controversial (see 1910150038). Grant of the declaratory ruling would be “an important milestone in prompting FirstNet to interoperate with communications systems used by public safety agencies,” the companies said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-254: Approving an NPRM would “begin the process through which the Commission can establish clear interoperability standards for public safety communications systems. Without such standards, deployment of FirstNet across the country will lead to situations in which communications systems are no longer interoperable when they are needed most, especially during natural disasters and emergencies.”

Pivotal Commware got a partial for waiver of FCC industrial signal booster labeling requirements for its Echo 5G signal booster, despite opposition by AT&T and T-Mobile and other booster makers (see 1910080012). The Wireless Bureau noted the opposition in a Thursday order in docket 19-272. “We find that a limited waiver permitting the following alternate label is warranted,” the bureau said: “WARNING. This is not a CONSUMER device. This device may not be sold at retail. You MUST have an FCC LICENSE or express consent of an FCC Licensee (or express consent of your service provider) to operate this device. Antennas must be installed at least 20 cm (8 inches) from any person. Unauthorized use may result in significant forfeiture penalties, including penalties in excess of $100,000 for each continuing violation.” The bureau also imposed various conditions, including a requirement the device be obtained “exclusively from the FCC licensee that is the user’s service provider.”

Penumbra Brands teamed with smartphone case maker Pela on a biodegradable insert that’s said to reduce exposure to cellphone radiation. Penumbra’s alara technology cuts a phone’s radiation by 80 percent without degrading signal quality, the company emailed. The insert is designed to fit inside Pela cases and is billed as 100 percent compostable.

An “ugly fight” is likely, with resistance from the Transportation Department, as the FCC looks at sharing part of the 5.9 GHz band with Wi-Fi, CCG Consulting’s Doug Dawson blogged Monday. “Expect major filings by the transportation industry describing reasons why taking away most of this spectrum is a bad idea,” Dawson wrote. Carriers may not make heavy use of the band, he said. “Recall a few years ago there was the opportunity for the cellular carriers to dip into the existing WiFi spectrum using [LTE-unlicensed] to offload busy cellular networks,” he said: “The carriers used LTE-U much less than anticipated by the WiFi industry, which had warned that cellular offload could overwhelm WiFi. It turns out the cellular carriers don’t like spectrum where they have to deal with unpredictable interference.” Commissioners approved an NPRM on the band 5-0 at their December meeting (see 1912120058). Had the FCC waited a few more years “the spectrum would have been full of millions of users -- Ford already announced plans to introduce the technology into their whole fleet by 2022,” Dawson told us: “Once a spectrum [band] becomes busy it’s much harder for the FCC to repurpose it.”

The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition filed at the FCC a response to a question in a recent meeting with Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp and OET staff on FWCC concerns about uncontrolled radio LAN devices in the 6 GHz band. “During the meeting, a question arose regarding how the FWCC reached its determination that ‘every 10 dB of RLAN incursion into fade margin increases [fixed service] outage times tenfold,’” FWCC said in an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 18-295. It filed a response with technical data by telecom consultant George Kizer, also president of the National Spectrum Management Association.

A DOJ and FCC brief urging the court to allow T-Mobile/Sprint is likely headed to the “dustbin,” the same fate as DOJ’s earlier motion to disqualify states’ lead counsel, New Street Research's Blair Levin wrote in a Monday note to investors. Friday, the FCC and DOJ Antitrust Division urged deference to their conditional OKs, at U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (see 1912200043). Judge Victor Marrero “is already well aware of the DOJ/FCC decisions,” and the new brief raises little new upon which he’d be likely to rely, said Levin. The filing “might have been done to help on appeal, in creating issues on which the DOJ could appeal,” he said. “If, however, the judge decides against the companies, we think he will have grounds to do so in ways that will make the odds of success for any appeal low. And if he decides to rule for the companies, it will likely be for reasons outside the DOJ/FCC filing.” Closing arguments at SDNY will be Jan. 15, with two hours per side. Parties must file post-trial findings of fact and conclusions of law by Jan. 8. That could put a ruling between mid-February and mid-March, Levin wrote.

Verizon said it met its 5G goals for 2019, with 5G Ultra Wideband service available in 31 cities, with seven 5G-enabled devices. The service is also available in 15 NFL stadiums and four indoor arenas, Verizon said Monday. The latest cities are Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; and Hampton Roads, Virginia. “We said we would lead in 5G and we are,” said Kyle Malady, Verizon chief technology officer.

Fifteen percent of U.S. households don’t get internet service at home, reported Leichtman Research Group Monday. The 85 percent of households with internet service is up a point from 2014. Broadband serves 96 percent of households with Internet service at home, it said. In addition, 81 percent of adults access the internet on a smartphone, and another 1 percent have access on another type of mobile phone, up from 63 percent in 2014. Three quarters of U.S. households get internet service at home plus on a mobile phone, up from 59 percent in 2014, it said. Half of U.S. households with an internet service at home watch video online daily vs. 29 percent five years ago, it said. Among adults with an internet service at home, the mean time spent online at home is 3.7 hours per day -- up from 2.8 hours per day in 2014. The segment of households opting to solely access the internet on a mobile phone “has plateaued,” said principal Bruce Leichtman.

Montgomery County, Maryland, and the FCC disagreed sharply in pleadings at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear the challenge of the FCC’s small-cell order. The agency told the court a Dec. 4 order (see 1912040036) resolved any questions by the county on RF concerns. “If Montgomery County has concerns about how the Commission resolved the 2013 RF Notice, it may raise them in a challenge to the Radiofrequency Order,” the FCC said last week (in Pacer) in docket 19-70123. “There is thus no basis for this Court to reach such concerns here.” The order doesn’t resolve the challenge, the county said Monday (in Pacer). “The FCC mischaracterizes this lawsuit and comments in the administrative record,” the county said: “Montgomery County and others asked the FCC to update the RF standards and ensure they are protective of human health before rolling-out 5G small cells in public spaces and residential areas. … While it made sense for Montgomery County to reference the ongoing 2013 proceedings, simply closing that docket does not mean that its comments and lawsuit have been fully addressed.” Argument is Feb. 10 in Pasadena, California (see 1912020018).