Climbing a broadcast TV tower gave him a better appreciation for the big job involved in the repack required by the TV incentive auction, Commissioner Brendan Carr said in an interview in the National Association of Tower Erectors’ magazine. Carr is pleased with the progress. “This is not the type of work where you’re putting up a small cell or taking down a small cell,” he said. “Getting out there to really see the size and the scope of these broadcast facilities gives you a much better appreciation for the work that’s going on in the repack.” The FCC’s top priority for 5G “is making sure that every community in the country from Thompson, North Dakota, and throughout rural America has a fair shot at next-generation connectivity,” Carr said. “It will not be a success in terms of 5G deployed if we see it only in the bigger cities like New York or San Jose.”

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals won't halt the FCC's September wireless infrastructure but will transfer the case to the 10th Circuit, the venue selected by lottery for other challenges of the infrastructure order. In a judgment (in Pacer) Thursday, the 8th Circuit granted the FCC's motion to strike Little Rock's stay request, and the agency's separate motion to transfer. The city's stay motion didn't comply with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 18(a)(2)(A)(i), the court said. The Arkansas capital city failed to show it's likely to prevail on the merits or that it will be irreparably harmed, the FCC said Wednesday at the 8th Circuit. That day, the FCC also opposed a stay motion by San Jose and other cities in the 10th Circuit on the same order (see 1901020039). The FCC “reasonably interpreted the [Communications] Act to apply to all state and local measures that have the effect of prohibiting wireless service, including restrictions on municipally-owned structures,” the agency told the 8th Circuit. “The Commission’s interpretation simply provides a basis for wireless carriers to seek relief in court, where municipalities remain free to contend that such relief is not warranted.”

T-Mobile offered the FCC additional clarity on confidential information it filed on its proposed buy of Sprint, in a highly redacted filing posted Monday in docket 18-197. “All coverage maps are based on outdoor link budget coverage thresholds,” the carrier said. “Link budgets are developed for specific frequency bands. Coverage is often aggregated, for instance PCS, AWS, and 2.5 GHz are combined to form ‘mid-band,’ however, the link budgets are determined per band.” T-Mobile noted “5G is still in the early development stages and equipment specifications" aren't finalized.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology and Wireless Bureau extended comment deadlines on a petition by the 5G Automotive Association to deploy cellular vehicle-to-everything technology in the upper 20 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band. Comments were due Jan. 11, replies Jan. 28. Now, it's Jan. 18 and Feb. 5, said a Monday order in docket 18-357. Automaker groups asked for extension last week (see 1812260045).

Microsoft raised concerns about Sennheiser's petition for an NPRM on innovation and development of new wireless mic technologies such as wireless multichannel audio systems (WMAS) technology (see 1812280053). Don't allow use of WMAS technology on an unlicensed basis without complying with other Part 15 rules, Microsoft asked in RM-11821. “Licensed Part 74 wireless microphone operations, including WMAS, should continue to be prohibited in the 6 megahertz unlicensed channel within the 600 MHz band duplex gap,” Microsoft sought. “Continue to prohibit unlicensed WMAS operations throughout the broadcast television bands and the duplex gap, if such operations are inconsistent with other existing Part 15 technical rules.”

Results so far in the 28 GHz auction could have implications for future auctions, Robert McDowell of Cooley told us (see 1812280030). The auction had $690 million in provisionally winning bids when it closed for the holidays. It reopens Thursday and continues even during the partial FCC shutdown (see 1901020048). “The markets have spoken and have said that, at this point in the history of RF valuations, at least some high-band frequencies are not as valuable as most mid-band and low-band channels,” McDowell said. “Congress will make a note of that when scoring future auctions for federal budgeting purposes. But all of this could be upended by new RF technologies that we cannot foresee today, because we are at the dawn of a golden age in wireless where yesterday’s junk frequencies have the potential to become tomorrow’s gold.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approved a waiver for Google's Project Soli 3D sensor technology to enable touchless control of device functions. The company sought leeway to operate at higher power levels consistent with what's allowed in Europe, and OET sought comment last spring (see 1803120031). “Soli sensors, when operating under the waiver conditions … pose minimal potential of causing harmful interference to other spectrum users and uses of the 57-64 GHz frequency band, including for the earth exploration satellite service (EESS) and the radio astronomy service (RAS),” said Monday's order. “Grant of the waiver will serve the public interest by providing for innovative device control features using touchless hand gesture technology.”

Cities “have not come close to satisfying the stringent requirements for a stay pending review” of the FCC’s September wireless infrastructure order, the agency said Wednesday at the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. San Jose and other cities sought stay last month, fearing irreversible harms (see 1812180052). The FCC disagreed, saying longstanding case law recognizes that Communications Act "Sections 253 and 332(c)(7) preempt state laws that materially inhibit wireless services.” The order “does not itself require localities to do anything, nor does it compel approval of any particular siting request; it simply articulates standards for courts to apply if and when they are confronted with any future siting disputes,” it said. “Even if localities were unable to recover compliance or other costs, monetary losses are not irreparable.” CTIA opposed cities’ motion in a Tuesday response (in Pacer). Cities haven't shown the order exceeded FCC authority, so they are unlikely to succeed on merits, the wireless association said. They fail to show irreparable harm, or that "the balance of equities tips in their favor,” since keeping the status quo would harm others, CTIA said. "One carrier has been forced to pause or decrease deployments in jurisdictions across the country due to excessive right-of way use or access fees, including fees in eight jurisdictions across four different states involving some combination of annual recurring charges of $1,000-$5,000 per node or pole; one-time fees of $10,000 plus $1,800 per permit, or $20,000; and annual recurring fees of $6,000, $25,000, or 5% of the provider’s gross revenues,” said CTIA, citing an Aug. 6 letter to the FCC from AT&T in docket 17-79. DOJ takes no position on the motion for stay, it said (in Pacer) Monday. Commissioner Brendan Carr, who spearheaded work on the FCC order, tweeted Tuesday that he wished “a full and speedy recovery” to one of the order’s chief critics, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (D). The mayor suffered minor fractures Tuesday when a vehicle struck his bicycle, said his office.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology sought a limited waiver of FCC Part 15 rules on ultra-wideband indoor devices for its WiTrack monitoring system. The system provides non-invasive health and safety monitoring of patients and senior adults but requires waivers for the definition of “UWB transmitter," measurement standards for swept-frequency equipment and UWB measurement procedures, MIT said. “By supporting remote health monitoring, the ultra-wideband technology employed in the WiTrack system facilitates fall detection and physiological measurements such as gait, breathing, heart rate, and sleep,” said an undocketed petition posted Friday by the FCC. “Approval of the limited waivers … will improve in-home safety and health care for senior adults and people with disabilities thereby encouraging independence and aging in place,” MIT said. “Grant of the waivers will also give medical researchers a valuable new tool for collecting research data heretofore largely obtainable only in laboratory settings, or not obtainable at all.”

Shure said it supports a Sennheiser petition seeking an NPRM on innovation and development of new wireless microphone technologies such as wireless multi-channel audio systems (WMAS) technology. “As a threshold matter, the Commission should solicit studies of the compatibility of proposed WMAS technology with other systems such as DTV (in the 470-608 MHz band), mobile phones (in the guard bands), and narrowband analog and digital wireless microphones in all bands,” Shure said. “Such studies should confirm or inform the development of appropriate technical parameters that should be adopted to support harmonious coexistence of WMAS technology with existing services.” Technology company Alteros, an Audio-Technica company, said more is possible with new technology. “In the past, it has been suggested that efficient use of microphone spectrum is a minimum of 18 channels in a 6 MHz band,” Alteros commented. “In actual use, many professional wireless coordinators are managing to operate 18-20 channels of high quality wireless microphones in a single 6 MHz TV channel. Alteros believes that the effort of making a rule change should carry a valuable return. With 18 channels being the quantity that was expected as efficient with the currently-existing technology, we request that any new rule change require a minimum of 24 channels of high-quality simultaneous operation of wireless microphones in a given channel.” The filings were posted Friday in docket RM-11821.