The FCC Public Safety Bureau denied a Connecticut city’s request for waiver to license 800 MHz expansion band channels for public safety communications. The reason for withholding that spectrum “is to avoid prejudicing an ongoing rulemaking proceeding regarding a proposal to afford filing priority to 800 MHz incumbent licensees -- a purpose that would be frustrated were we to grant the requested waiver,” the bureau said in a Wednesday order on the request by New Britain. “Spectrum congestion in the 800 MHz band is neither a unique nor an unusual circumstance that makes denial of the waiver inequitable, unduly burdensome or contrary to the public interest.” New Britain could alternatively use Sprint-vacated frequencies in the interleaved band, available exclusively for public safety until Feb. 22, 2020, the bureau added.

Corning is working to develop cover materials for smartphone displays that will be “truly” foldable, said CEO Wendell Weeks on a Wednesday earnings call. Though foldable smartphones are an idea “hyped for a number of years,” the technical challenges remain daunting, said Weeks. "Could we basically make something small, but then you can fold it out and it would become something big?” he said. There’s “real interest” among smartphone OEMs in fashioning a device that fits that, Weeks said. Chief Financial Officer Tony Tripeny expects no “material impact” from the Trump administration’s “enacted or contemplated tariffs.” TVs aren't now proposed for tariffs against Chinese imports, and Corning has a “philosophy to manufacture products in the same region as our customer,” he said. The sixth-generation Gorilla Glass cover glass introduced last week is getting “very strong interest” from smartphone makers, said Weeks. After the company reported Q2 sales rose about 10 percent from the year-ago period to $2.7 billion and it raised its full-year forecast, the stock closed up 11 percent to $33.21.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comment on a LoJack proposal that it be allowed to file a “master” narrowband modification application on behalf of all police agencies that operate a LoJack stolen vehicle recovery system (SVRS). The FCC previously allowed LoJack to delay compliance with the narrowbanding mandate until May 27, 2019, the bureau said Wednesday. “To facilitate compliance with the narrowbanding mandate, LoJack seeks to file a master application that encompasses all 30 authorized SVRS licensees,” the bureau said. “It includes in its request, declarations from each of the 30 licensees authorizing filing of the modification application on its behalf.” Comments are due Aug. 24, replies Sept. 10 in DA 18-770.

The FCC is giving 20 more days for replies on a petition by Elefante asking the FCC to modify rules to allow operation of stratospheric-based communications services platforms at 65,000 feet. Comments were due Thursday in RM-11809 and are now due Aug. 15. Elefante said it needed time to “conduct multiple technical studies to address issues raised by commenters,” said an order by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology. “Comments raise a series of distinct technical and sharing issues involving multiple bands. An extension of 20 days will adequately serve the public interest by providing Elefante and other interested parties additional time to prepare technical studies and develop more full and complete responses to the filed comments, without resulting in undue delay.” The SBCS proposal got mixed reviews (see 1807110037).

Toyota backed more testing to determine if Wi-Fi can safely share the 5.9 GHz band with dedicated short-range communications systems. Representatives met with Chief Julius Knapp and others from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. “The DSRC announcement by Toyota, the recent announcement by General Motors to further expand its DSRC deployment in the United States, and significant investments in DSRC-enabled infrastructure in a majority of states proves that DSRC deployment in the United States continues,” said a Monday filing in docket 13-49. “There are important interference scenarios that have not yet been tested during the first phase of testing.”

The FTC won't take antitrust enforcement action against AT&T’s buy of internet advertising company AppNexus, the agency announced (see 1806250036).

Executives from Iota met with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai to discuss the company’s plans for a narrowband IoT network using specialized mobile radio, expansion band and guard band channels. The company asked the FCC to adopt the tentative conclusions in an August 2016 NPRM (see 1608180045). It's "eager to complete the construction of its IoT network but is restricted in doing so unless and until the FCC releases the channels in the EB and GB,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-261.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau rejected a request by Commissioners of Fire District No. 1, Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, for a waiver of a 2012 notice suspending new grants of licenses to use T-band spectrum. The 700 MHz T-band historically has seen broad use by public safety agencies, particularly in major cities (see 1206060055). “CFD1 has not shown that the underlying purpose of the Suspension Notice would not be frustrated by application to the present case. CFD1 would be a new entrant to the T-Band spectrum,” the bureau said. “A grant of its application would not serve the purpose of the Suspension Notice since it would alter the spectrum landscape, thereby complicating the process of finding replacement frequencies for dislocated T-Band licensees.”

PdvWireless supports amending Part 90 rules to authorize primary use of 4.9 GHz spectrum by critical infrastructure industry, one of the FCC-proposed options. "We are pleased to see such a strong coalition, including industry leaders such as the Utilities Technology Council, the American Petroleum Institute and the Edison Electric Institute, in support of the expansion of eligibility in the 4.9 GHz band," said Morgan O'Brien, CEO of pdvWireless. "Our nation's utilities require immediate access to spectrum, such as the 4.9 GHz and 900 MHz bands, to address reliability and security concerns that threaten to undermine America's power grid." PdvWireless said it's filing reply comments in docket 07-100 on a Further NPRM on the public safety band, approved 5-0 in March (see 1803220037).

Sony plans to start sample shipments in September of an image sensor for smartphone cameras with the industry’s highest pixel count at 48 “effective” megapixels, enabling resolutions comparable with those of “high-performance SLR cameras,” said the company Monday.