NTCA officials discussed their opposition to the T-Mobile/Sprint deal and support for making more 2.5 GHz spectrum available for licensed use, during meetings with aides to FCC Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr, said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-97. “NTCA expressed its doubts about the New T-Mobile fulfilling its promises to offer 5G service to rural America and how the deal would likely result in a loss of rural service.” It discussed “relationships its members have with Sprint for roaming and spectrum leasing” and said “T-Mobile has not been a willing partner in many rural areas.” Representatives of cable operator Altice said they met the FCC's T-Mobile/Sprint transaction team. “Altice discussed its spectrum strategy in detail,” the company said: “Altice emphasized that the proposed merger limits entry by new sources of retail wireless competition by eliminating the only real source of competition in the wholesale market today -- the competition between Sprint and T-Mobile.”

Hype about 5G was high at the Mobile World Congress, but reality will be “tougher,” Wells Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche wrote investors Thursday. “Hype of 5G seems to be reaching a point of too much euphoria,” she wrote. Carriers likely won’t see revenue growth until 2020-21, the analyst said: “Early 5G winners will be the ‘arms dealers’ which supply the infrastructure. There seems to be particular focus on the Edge infrastructure theme with mobile edge computing capabilities.” Sprint said it will deploy 5G in four markets by May and nine cities the first half of the year, offering “very specific” coverage maps with more detail than any other carrier, Fritzsche said. T-Mobile indicated more interest in the high-band spectrum for 5G than it showed in the past, she said.

The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated VTDigger’s appeal of its Freedom of Information Act case against FirstNet. The court Wednesday granted (in Pacer) the local news publication’s motion in case 18-2819 after dismissing the case due to a missed briefing deadline (see 1902190024).

Wireless ISP Association officials met Erin McGrath, aide to FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. WISPA members have a “strong interest in obtaining access to 2.5 GHz spectrum,” said a filing Thursday in docket 13-49. The FCC should “understand that the 5.9 GHz band is useful not just for Wi-Fi but for rural broadband under rules that are similar to those used in the adjacent 5 GHz U-NII band,” the group said: “We noted WISPA’s opposition to the [5G Automotive Association] waiver request that seeks access to 20 megahertz of spectrum for a single technology and use case, a result that would repeat the Commission’s policy that resulted in the underutilization of the band for Dedicated Short Range Communications” (see 1902270041).

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (D) led a letter with 90 other mayors and county executives to Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., supporting her Accelerating Wireless Broadband Development by Empowering Local Communities Act. HR-530, which Eshoo filed in January, would overturn the FCC's September wireless infrastructure order (see 1901160038). The order, which aims to speed 5G deployment by lowering state and local barriers to deployment, is under court review (see 1901110018). Liccardo opposed the FCC action (see 1811080055). “While we support the [FCC's] goal of ensuring affordable broadband access for every American, the Commission’s actions do nothing to achieve that goal,” wrote the leaders, including New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D). “It puts the interests of national corporations over the needs of our communities by making it impossible for local governments to manage the public rights-of-way effectively and equitably. It cedes control of local property to national corporations without fair compensation in return, and without taking into account considerations for closing the digital divide, public safety” and other matters.

T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray and others from the carrier met FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr on the carrier’s proposed buy of Sprint. The executives discussed the likely effect of the combination over the next two years, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-197. "In each year capacity increases of the merged firm would exceed the combined standalones, throughput increases of the merged firm would exceed the standalones, and the expected net present value of consumer welfare would also increase,” T-Mobile said: “The T-Mobile representatives additionally summarized their discussion with the Transaction Team regarding porting data versus other switching data.” Communications Workers of America said three union members from T-Mobile met Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and had meetings with aides to Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel. They delivered a petition signed by 818 wireless workers, which “expresses the workers’ concerns that the proposed merger … will result in the loss of many American jobs, cuts in wages and commissions, and a corresponding reduction in service quality.” The FCC noted it received requests from four more state attorney general offices seeking access to confidential numbering resource utilization and forecast reports and local number portability data related to their investigations into the transaction. It said they are similar to earlier requests by AG offices in New York and nine other states (see 1808300031 and 1810220052). The federal commission wants to give carriers an opportunity to contact the AG offices in Colorado, Iowa, Maryland and Massachusetts "or to take any other action they may deem appropriate if they have concerns or oppose disclosure," said a public notice Thursday, noting comments or objections shouldn't be sent to the FCC.

T-Mobile's buying Sprint is all about 5G, T-Mobile CEO John Legere blogged Wednesday. “Only the New T-Mobile will have the spectrum, network assets and scale to light up the country’s first truly nationwide, broad and deep 5G network across all types of radio spectrum -- from big cities to rural America,” Legere said. “We’ll do it by bringing together T-Mobile’s low-band and mmWave spectrum and Sprint’s mid-band spectrum on a combined network, to build the highest capacity network in U.S. history -- a whopping 400 MHz+ total spectrum for customers nationwide on average.” Legere contrasted T-Mobile’s 5G with what has been unveiled by the top two U.S. carriers. “Verizon is talking up what amounts to 5G hot spots in big cities” and leading on 5G “fakery,” he said, while AT&T is pushing 5G Evolution (see 1901080024). “AT&T isn’t even bothering to roll out fake 5G -- they’re just rolling out a fake 5Gicon,” Legere said: “They’re literally changing the icon on your phone -- the same phone you had six months ago.” AT&T and Verizon didn’t comment. The transaction is "scaring the sh*t out of the competition," Legere claimed.

Verizon received special temporary authority from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology to test devices that use the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband service band in Utica, New York. The carrier said in an accompanying document it plans tests in various locations there. The authorization runs March 15-Sept. 14. “Field tests will be conducted in a production network, in a highly controlled field environment, in order to assist in the development of commercial products,” the company said. “The testing will benefit the public interest by enabling the pre-commercial testing of new products outside of a lab environment but in a controlled and managed manner.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told all three members of the Alaska congressional delegation the agency has to take a hard line when “fishermen” use noncompliant RF devices in the 156.775-162.025 MHz band “to mark and track fishing nets.” The three raised concerns in a Jan. 15 letter to Pai. “Fishermen in Alaska are now facing incredibly steep fines for utilizing an effective technology that supports safety at sea, improves tracking and retention of deployed gear, and prevents gear loss that might unintentionally place unsustainable fishing pressure on our valued stocks,” they said. The band is “actively monitored by the U.S. Coast Guard for marine navigation safety communications such as locating ships and persons in distress.” Pai responded in a letter posted Tuesday. Non-safety use of the band “could impede the Coast Guard's ability to carry out its mission of aiding ships in distress -- an outcome no one desires,” he said. The ITU is examining other uses of the band, but “that proceeding has not yet concluded, and as a result, the FCC has not made additional authorizations at this time,” Pai said.

T-Mobile asked the FCC to strike a Mobility Fund Phase II complaint by the Rural Wireless Association from the docket on the company's proposed buy of Sprint. “The Commission has consistently held that matters unrelated to a transaction are not appropriate for consideration in the context of license transfers,” T-Mobile said Tuesday in docket 18-197. “The FCC’s transfer of control review is limited to ‘considerations of merger-specific effects.’ ... Here, RWA’s claims regarding 4G LTE coverage maps submitted in the MF II proceeding do not arise from the transaction and are wholly unrelated to the license transfers under review.” RWA asked the FCC to investigate the 4G LTE coverage claims of T-Mobile in regard to the MF-II (see 1812270052).