C Spire said it’s modifying shared data plans to include a four-line version with unlimited voice and text and 10 GB of data for $160 per month. AT&T and Verizon Wireless began offering similar four-line plans for $160 per month earlier this year. C Spire also reduced the cost of smaller data allocations, with 1 GB costing $25 and 2 GB costing $40, $20 less in both cases than before. A new 3 GB level costs $60. All plans cost between $15 and $40 per line, depending on how much data are bought and whether the subscriber is paying for the smartphone on an installment plan, C Spire said in a news release Monday. The carrier also recently began offering an unlimited data plan for $65 per month, which is only available to customers not on a contract plan and who either paid in full for their device or are paying for it in installments (http://bit.ly/1fMKIKa).

AT&T fired back at Competitive Carriers Association arguments that the FCC should tweak its spectrum aggregation rules to accommodate the low-band holdings of CCA members, while restricting bidding by Verizon and AT&T. CCA has proposed that the FCC look at the national positions of a carrier in addition to the spectrum it has in an individual market before imposing bidding limits in the TV incentive auction (CD April 30 p1). “The FCC has now proposed a set of restrictions that basically gives CCA exactly what it has demanded -- it is proposing to restrict a carrier’s participation in the 600 MHz auction based on the amount of low band spectrum it holds in its portfolio,” said AT&T Vice President Joan Marsh (http://bit.ly/1kQ7j7w). “One would think CCA would be cheering from the stands, but they are not. Why? Because the FCC’s proposal has finally forced CCA to acknowledge that there are ‘multiple examples’ ’throughout the country’ of incidences where their members already have a significant portfolio of low band spectrum. Those members would therefore be restricted under the FCC’s current proposal.” CCA wants to tilt the table to suit its purposes, Marsh said. “So, this is the world according to CCA: -- Where their members have significant low band holdings and are subject to auction restrictions, it’s an ‘unintended consequence,'” she wrote. “Where AT&T or Verizon have the same amount of low band holdings and are subject to auction restrictions, it’s because our low band holdings are ‘excessive.'"

Rules for the TV incentive auction must be clear going in for all parties, CTIA officials said in a meeting with Renee Gregory, aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “While the auction raises novel challenges, it is important that the rules be clear and easy to understand, and that they promote participation by both wireless providers and broadcasters,” said an ex parte filing on the Wednesday meeting posted the next day in docket 12-268 (http://bit.ly/Rbikpz). “CTIA also emphasized that a well-reasoned band plan is essential for the proposed incentive auction to achieve the critical goal of unleashing necessary additional spectrum for mobile broadband, and voiced support for a band plan that focuses on pairing as much spectrum as possible in a technically feasible manner that provides guard bands and a duplex gap no larger than required to protect licensed services from interference in accordance with the law, and that promotes bidder confidence.”

Some smaller carriers would also face restrictions in bidding for low-band spectrum in the TV incentive auction under the proposed rules, not just AT&T and Verizon, the Competitive Carriers Association told FCC officials in meetings last week. CCA representatives met with aides to Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel, said an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 12-268. “There is little rationale for putting a small, rural competitor in the same (or worse) position than better capitalized, dominant nationwide providers,” the group said (http://bit.ly/1i0KRIy). “CCA has identified multiple examples of this result for carriers located throughout the country.” CCA proposed that the FCC adopt a national eligibility requirement in addition to a market-by-market test. “This proposal allows rural and regional providers to bid on reserved spectrum in their core markets, but does not change the two largest providers’ capability to bid on reserved spectrum in any market,” CCA said. “For example, under CCA’s proposal, AT&T would still be able to bid on reserved spectrum in Cleveland, Phoenix and Puerto Rico. Verizon would still be able to bid on reserved spectrum in Dallas, Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau plans a workshop June 2 to take advice on rules for carriers to submit annual certifications required under the commission’s new 911 reliability rules. In December, the FCC voted to require carriers to file annual audits on how they are following best practices for 911 connections (CD Dec 13 p7). The order followed the 2012 derecho, which led to 911 outages affecting emergency call centers in three states. The workshop is scheduled 1-4 p.m. at FCC headquarters in Washington.

Imposing spectrum aggregation limits in the TV incentive auction would be “perverse and unjust” since they would help “large multinational companies at the expense of their competitors,” Verizon representatives said in meetings with FCC commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly. T-Mobile is owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and Sprint is partly owned by Japan’s SoftBank. “T-Mobile and Sprint are large corporations with established, well-financed corporate parents,” Verizon said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1nMcGI4). “They and their parent corporations are more than capable of paying substantial amounts to acquire spectrum in the incentive auction if they choose to do so.” Verizon also warned that imposing limits on selling restricted spectrum licenses would hurt the auction. “Such restrictions would suppress the value of the restricted licenses at auction, further reducing competition and further increasing the risk that broadcasters do not relinquish substantial amounts of spectrum,” Verizon said. “That is because firms are less likely to participate, or to bid aggressively, if they know that they will be unable to subsequently sell their spectrum if their business plans change or do not work out."

The FCC Public Safety Bureau gave Pima County, Ariz., more time, but not as much as it had asked, to submit a frequency reconfiguration agreement (FRA) to the 800 MHz Transition Administrator as the county reconfigures its public safety radios. Pima requested an extension until Sept. 11, but got instead an extension through July 15, said a bureau order (http://bit.ly/1pPcWIr). “There is nothing we can do to change the fact that Pima has not been diligent in producing a cost estimate, therefore we have no option other than to give Pima an extension of some duration,” the bureau said. “We need not, however, accede to the lengthy extension in Pima’s Request.”

The FCC released a document Wednesday listing all handsets used by every U.S. carrier (http://bit.ly/1fR06zL) at the end of 2013. The agency also posted information on handsets offered in the U.S. during the same time frame, offering information on air interface technology, the bands they operate in and whether they are rated for use with hearing aids (http://bit.ly/1kiQhvI).

A Florida man who allegedly jammed consumer cellphone service from his car for nearly two years and interfered with first-responder communications faces a possible $48,000 fine from the FCC, the agency said in a release Tuesday (http://fcc.us/1iHV3GJ). FCC Enforcement Bureau agents identified Jason Humphreys of Seffner, Fla., as the source of the interference by using sophisticated interference detection techniques (http://fcc.us/1m7XHIX). Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies stopped Humphreys’ vehicle while he was apparently operating the jammer and seized the illegal jamming device, the release said. Humphreys’ jammer operation “could and may have had disastrous consequences” by precluding the use of cellphones to reach 911, the FCC said. Signal jammers are transmitters that intentionally interfere with cellphone calls, GPS systems, Wi-Fi networks and first-responder communications..

Verizon agreed to pay $50,000 and take other steps to end an FCC investigation of whether it violated the commission’s radiofrequency exposure (RFE) limits in Philadelphia and Hartford. The FCC found that rooftop transmitters at one site in each city “may have violated” the RFE rules, the Enforcement Bureau said (http://bit.ly/1hXavcP). “To resolve the investigations, Verizon Wireless will pay $50,000 and implement a rigorous compliance plan to protect Verizon Wireless employees, contractors, and other people who may come into contact with radiofrequency emissions from Verizon Wireless facilities,” the bureau said. “The plan includes training for Verizon Wireless employees and contractors, periodic inspections of approximately 5,000 Verizon Wireless sites, reporting requirements, and other safety measures."