The FCC Wireless Bureau proposes changing the industrial/business pool frequencies on which Vantage Geophysical can operate. The license in question “authorizes itinerant operations throughout the continental United States, but the authorized frequencies … are not designated for itinerant use and the underlying application did not undergo frequency coordination,” the bureau said: “It appears that the application was granted in error.” Vantage frequencies 451.125, 451.675, 452.675, 456.175, 456.725, 462.125 and 463.725 MHz would be replaced by 451.800, 451.8125, 456.800, 456.8125, 464.500, 464.550 and 469.500 MHz, under the order, posted Monday. The company has until June 12 to protest.

Oil companies led by Chevron asked the FCC to exclude the Gulf of Mexico from any expanded unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band. “The 6 GHz backhaul network is essential for the safety of oil and gas operations and for new government continuous monitoring regulation," said a filing in docket 18-295."Offshore energy production operations have become safer and more secure over the last decade, in part through greatly improved communications between oil production platforms and on-shore management, monitoring activities and public safety entities." The FCC is examining Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use of the band (see 1903190050).

Huawei asked the FCC to "take notice of recent remarks by Chinese officials underscoring that Chinese laws do not require private companies to engage in cyberespionage, and that the Chinese government does not control private companies headquartered within its borders." The smartphone OEM "has never 'spied' on behalf of the Chinese government -- or any other," CEO Ren Zhengfei says it wouldn't if the government asked, and China has never made such a request, it wrote the agency. Friday's posting in docket 18-89 included a report by Hanhua Zhou, research scientist at the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Thursday, FCC members voted to deny China Mobile OK to sell services in the U.S., and may revoke previous permission given China Unicom and China Telecom (see 1905090039). The commission didn't comment Friday on Huawei.

NTIA seeks comment on proposed information collection related to closing out the State and Local Implementation Grant Program, says a notice for Monday's Federal Register. The SLIGP was designed to help states and territories prepare for FirstNet. “SLIGP 2.0 recipients’ periods of performance are currently scheduled to end in early 2020,” NTIA said. “Following the award end date, recipients will be required to complete grant closeout activities within 90 days.” A form “will ask recipients to aggregate their cumulative progress toward program priority areas identified in their quarterly performance progress reports,” it said. “Recipients will also be asked to report on their cumulative expenditures.” The FR notice “allows NTIA to begin the process to obtain the approval for the standard three years,” it said. The agency estimated average time per response as 25 hours. It asked whether the proposed information collection is necessary; the accuracy of the estimated burden; ways to enhance quality, utility and clarity of information; and ways to minimize burden.

Make spectrum above 95 GHz available for licensed use, 5G Americas asked the FCC. The group is “disappointed” the first spectrum horizons order created only “frameworks for Part 5 experimental licensing and Part 15 unlicensed use, but is heartened by the Commission’s promise to consider developing rules for segments of the range above 95 GHz for exclusive licensing in the future,” 5G Americas said. “Spectrum above 95 GHz will play an important role in enabling innovators to develop new technologies. 5G Americas accordingly supports the Commission proposing rules for licensed access to band segments as soon as possible.” Commissioners approved the order 5-0 in March (see 1903150054). Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said then he would have preferred an order providing some licensed use of the very high-band spectrum. The letter was posted Tuesday in docket 18-21.

More than 830 signatories petitioned the FCC Wednesday to make new educational broadband service licenses available to educational institutions and tribal nations, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition said. The group noted that 23 years ago, the FCC stopped issuing new EBS licenses, “leaving 50 percent of the geography of the United States, primarily rural areas, without access to this portion of the 2.5 GHz band.” A year ago, commissioners approved 4-0 an NPRM seeking proposals for changes to the band, including an incentive auction like the one for TV broadcast spectrum (see 1805100053). The petition's signers include schools, rural operators, libraries, nonprofit organizations, anchor institutions and public interest groups from 48 states and the District of Columbia, the coalition said. “EBS is currently the only licensed spectrum available for educational institutions to serve their communities,” the group said. “The FCC is expected to reach a decision this summer about how to make this spectrum available. It has sought comment on whether to give educational and Tribal entities the first opportunity to obtain this spectrum, or whether to proceed immediately to a commercial auction and eliminate the requirement that licenses be held by an educational or nonprofit entity.”

CEO John Legere and others from T-Mobile argued for the company’s buy of Sprint in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-197. The executives said the company’s “world-leading 5G network will cover the country and deliver transformative services to all Americans, including those on prepaid and Lifeline plans.” They said "the massive capacity and lower costs of the network will result in lower prices for consumers and opportunities for MVNOs.” An accompanying presentation said without the transaction, in 2024, T-Mobile’s network will be “broad and thin,” Sprint’s “deep but narrow.” Together, the network will be “broad and deep.” The 4Competition Coalition, meanwhile, opposed the transaction in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “This merger would consolidate the nation’s wireless market from four to just three carriers, lead to price increases for virtually all wireless customers, substantially raise wholesale rates, and cause significant job losses -- all while failing to deliver the promised benefits of accelerated 5G deployment or expanded rural coverage,” the group said. Representatives of the Communications Workers of America, Consumer Reports, Dish Network, Incompas, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Next Century Cities and Writers Guild of America West attended. Legere blogged Wednesday that the new T-Mobile will be good for business customers, who haven’t benefited from changes in wireless pricing. “Two-year service contracts, bill shock, data buckets, overage penalties, and so many more punitive practices” are still common, Legere said. “Millions of businesses are still on a two-year service contract … and even more are still on limited data buckets. Worse, the Carriers’ pricing for businesses is still a secret, so you have no idea if you’re getting a good deal or getting screwed (pro tip: you’re probably getting screwed).”

The Wireless Communications Association urged the FCC to adopt policies for the 2.5 GHz band “rationalizing” educational broadband service geographic service areas to county boundaries, meeting with Aaron Goldberger, aide to Chairman Ajit Pai. Taking the step “without regard to the size of the current overlap” is “a practical solution to the limitations of the Commission’s Universal Licensing System,” WCA said, posted Tuesday in docket 18-120. “This approach will provide substantial benefits to the public, as it will allow for the rapid introduction of broadband service in underserved areas. Unlike alternative proposals, this approach also is most likely to result in auctioning of the EBS white space without the years of delay that otherwise would be required to identify the specific geographic areas available at auction.”

The FCC isn’t falling short on 5G security (see 1905060057), emailed Mark Jamison, University of Florida professor and a member of the Trump FCC transition landing team. “The FCC should -- and does -- have 5G security as a high priority,” Jamison said. “But that does not mean that it should grab every opportunity to devote more resources to the issue. Security is a central mission of many other federal agencies. The FCC should always be supportive and informed of what these agencies do, but not at the cost of failing in its unique responsibilities, such as paving the way for 5G deployment.”

Smartphone users report a willingness to pay a 20 percent premium for 5G, and half of early adopters would pay as much as 32 percent more, Ericsson ConsumerLab reported: “One in five smartphone users’ data consumption could reach more than 200GB per month on a 5G device by 2025.” The lab said current use patterns can’t be used to predict future 5G demand. The report is based 35,000 interviews with smartphone users, 15-69, in 22 countries. “Such is the uncertainty that some believe 4G technology is already more than capable of doing everything consumers demand,” the gearmaker said: “This has led analysts and commentators to warn that consumers are unlikely to pay a premium to access a service they don't need. These presumptions seem to have rubbed off on operators.”