Replies on T-Mobile's planned takeover of Sprint were extended from Oct. 9 to Oct. 31 after the FCC paused the review clock Sept. 11 and applicants informed the agency Friday they completed modeling submissions, said a public notice Tuesday in docket 18-197.

Samsung filed trademark applications Sept. 24 in the U.S. and Sept. 20 in the EU to register the promotional phrase “The Future Unfolds” for many goods and services, including smartphones, Patent and Trademark Office records show. Samsung didn’t comment Monday. Its first foldable smartphone late this year or early next is expected to be a “fold-in” model with cover material sourced from Sumitomo Chemical fashioned from colorless polyimide film for the curvature and hard coat for scratch resistance (see 1809270001).

The Lower Colorado River Authority raised concerns that the FCC’s 900 MHz freeze (see 1809130064) may hurt utilities. LCRA representatives met Wednesday with the Wireless Bureau, said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-200. The freeze “effectively prevents utilities such as LCRA from expanding the coverage and capacity of their 900 MHz radio systems that are necessary for mission-critical communications to meet the needs of their growing utility operations,” which is important for employee and public safety, it said. LCTA reps and FCC staff discussed waiver options and “that an application that seeks to change an existing emission designator, without other changes to the frequencies or locations or technical parameters, would not expand a station’s spectral or geographic footprint, and would therefore not be subject to the licensing freeze.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau granted waiver of wireless emergency alert rules to permit carriers to participate in a WEA test by the Napa (California) County Office of Emergency Services. The OES plans the test for Oct. 9 at 9:30 a.m. PT, with a backup date of Oct. 23, said Monday’s order. It's conditioned on sufficient public outreach.

The world’s first commercial 5G network, being built by Verizon, went live Monday in parts of Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento. The first installation of Verizon’s fixed 5G Home service was at the Houston home of Clayton Harris, “the first 5G customer in the world,” Verizon said. The other major U.S. carriers are also moving toward launch. “We’ve formed incredible partnerships with many of the world’s leading technology companies, the international technical standards bodies, public officials, developers and our own customers to drive the 5G ecosystem forward, faster than most had predicted,” said Verizon Wireless President Ronan Dunne. “We’re just at the starting line.”

"The FirstNet Board will select a new CEO in coordination with the Department of Commerce," a FirstNet spokesperson emailed (see 1809270049).

The FCC released the text of its decisions aimed at speeding 5G wireless buildout by targeting state and local hurdles to small-cell deployment. The 116-page declaratory ruling and order (here) in docket 17-79 and Friday's Daily Digest was adopted by commissioners Wednesday with Jessica Rosenworcel partially dissenting (see 1809260029). Local governments expect to mount a court challenge (see 1809270040).

A pending report to Congress required by the Spectrum Pipeline Act should make clear the threat to smaller entities from a notice of proposed rulemaking last year on changes to the rules for the citizens broadband radio service band, the Wireless ISP Association said in reply comments in docket 14-177. In initial comments, NTIA and others encouraged the FCC to make more spectrum bands available for 5G (see 1809110040). The FCC sought comment on the initial rules creating the shared CBRS band and on other bands that can be reallocated for broadband (see 1808100033). The NPRM “threatens to pull the rug from under stakeholders who, in reliance on the 2015 rule changes, made significant, long-term investments in preparation for launching innovative products and services -- including those targeting rural and underserved markets -- utilizing the CBRS band,” WISPA said in comments posted Thursday The FCC can rightfully report that the results of the 2015 rules were “positive and promising,” WISPA said. “But ... the Commission must also report on the chilling effect the 2017 NPRM has had on those changes.” The Utilities Technology Council said it opposes comments in the record that “seek to downplay the complexity of expanding the use of the 6 GHz band … and the associated risks of interference to the safety, security and reliability of electric, gas and water services, as well as numerous other services that depend on the 6 GHz band for mission-critical communications.” Federated Wireless said the FCC should report that CBRS “will play a critical role in providing the mid-band spectrum access needed to ensure that the United States leads the world in the race to 5G.” Federated said there's significant support in the record on the importance of that band. “It is paramount that the Commission continue its work to expeditiously authorize CBRS initial commercial deployments and issue final certifications to Spectrum Access System Administrators and Environmental Sensing Capability Operators to enable full commercialization of the CBRS band,” Federated commented.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (D) slammed the FCC’s 5G infrastructure order and said his office “will consider all of our legal and political options to ensure that the voices of local communities are heard, to achieve a more inclusive vision of our digital future.” Local governments expect to challenge the FCC order adopted Wednesday (see 1809260029). “The new FCC rules undermine the ability of local communities to negotiate fair, market-based broadband deployment agreements that benefit all of our residents,” he said Wednesday in a statement. Liccardo, who quit the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee in January (see 1801250049), is “not surprised by this result,” he said. “Rather than encouraging balanced, common-sense recommendations that advance equitable broadband infrastructure deployment, the FCC’s move will force taxpayers to subsidize industry access to publicly-owned infrastructure -- with no obligation to serve the 34 million Americans in low-income and rural communities who remain on the wrong side of the ‘digital divide.’ Thousands of students in cities like San Jose will continue to have to borrow their friends’ smartphones while huddling outside of a Starbucks in order to get access to a wi-fi network they need to do their homework, due to the unwillingness of the federal government and telecommunications industry to serve them.” Commissioner Brendan Carr's spokesman fired back: “There’s a reason why zero small cells were deployed in San Jose. It’s Mayor Liccardo. Under his leadership, as he puts it, San Joseans have been ‘huddling outside of a Starbucks in order to get access to a wi-fi network.’" Wednesday's vote "is a win for them and for Americans across the country who want better, faster, and cheaper broadband," he said. The FCC is doing its part to open a path for the U.S. to lead the world on 5G, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a Washington Post opinion piece. “The FCC has been aggressively making more radio waves available for Americans to use,” Pai said. “Last year, we concluded the world’s first incentive auction, in which spectrum once used by TV broadcasters was sold to wireless companies to expand bandwidth and coverage for consumers. We’ve scheduled the United States’ first two high-band 5G spectrum auctions, which will begin later this year, and we are on track to auction off three more bands next year.” Infrastructure is also critical, Pai said. “To deploy the hundreds of thousands of small cells and miles of fiber needed for 5G, we need to streamline regulations,” he said. “We will never realize the 5G future if we impose federal, state, local and tribal regulatory burdens designed for large towers on every single small cell.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology extended through March 31 waiver of the push notification requirement for fixed and mode II personal/portable white space devices. The waiver was set to expire Sunday. The original waiver was approved in an August 2015 order on Part 15 rules. “This action will ensure that manufacturers may continue to market previously approved white space devices, and that users may continue to operate them,” said the order in docket 14-165. “The ability of all approved white space devices to satisfy the at-least-once-daily database re-check requirement will ensure that wireless microphones will continue to receive interference protection from white space devices.”