Several law enforcement groups distanced themselves from Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) support for giving control of the 4.9 GHz band to the FirstNet Authority. “A labor group has endorsed a plan to transfer the 4.9 GHz spectrum band” to FirstNet, said a filing this week in docket 07-100. “In doing so, the organization has insinuated it speaks for the entire law enforcement community on this matter,” the filing said: “It does not.” The Major Cities Chiefs Association, the National Sheriffs’ Association, and three regional and state sheriffs groups made the latest filing. It doesn’t mention FOP, but a supporter of the filing indicated it was aimed at that organization's comments. “We want to be completely clear -- as members and supporters of the Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI), we are completely opposed to the transfer of the 4.9 GHz band” to FirstNet, the filing said.

GCI representatives reported on meetings with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and staff from the Wireless Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics about 5G in Alaska. The state's “telecommunications environment is incredibly diverse and expansive, and lacks fulsome fiber connectivity,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-328. “Neither the Alaska Plan nor the proposed Alaska Connect Fund provided support that would have been adequate to deliver, in the case of the Alaska Plan, 4G LTE statewide at 10/1 [Mbps] or even 5/1 Mbps, or in the case of the Alaska Connect Fund, 5G at 35/3 Mbps or even 7/1 Mbps,” GCI said.

NCTA reiterated in reply comments this week the group’s advocacy of giving wireless providers six months to unlock handsets after they’re activated, not the FCC’s proposed 60 days (see 2409110019). While a handset unlocking mandate will be good for competition, the FCC should keep in mind the risk of fraud, NCTA said. “It typically takes a mobile wireless provider longer than 60 days to determine accurately whether a handset is subject to fraud or trafficking,” the group said: Comcast has described “why it can take five months or longer to confirm that patterns of missed bill payments and extensive periods of non-usage, the primary indicia of handset fraud, are attributable to trafficking.” Comments were posted in docket 24-186. In another filing of note, the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) agreed with comments that the FCC lacks legal authority to impose a mandate (see 2409240038). “An FCC mandate to unlock handsets before the installment plans are fully paid off would impinge on state law terms of service and financing agreements providers have with customers,” AFSA said. A mandate would also interfere with agreements between carriers and financial institutions “that offset some of the … financial risks associated with financing handsets for customers,” the group said: “Those agreements necessarily require wireless providers to lock handsets to the wireless provider’s service until the installment plan is paid off.” The Cloud Communications Alliance supported a 60-day requirement but said immediate unlocking would be even better. “As the record reflects, requiring unlocking has not impeded the offering of discount pricing plans for mobile devices either in the United States or in other countries,” the alliance said. “The unlocking requirements applied to Verizon have not prevented the company from offering discounts and, as it states in its comments, an industry-wide unlocking standard will not eliminate discount pricing.”

The FCC approved a spectrum swap between T-Mobile and Horry Telephone Co-op (HTC), said an order by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. T-Mobile and HTC agreed to exchange 20 MHz of HTC’s 600 MHz spectrum for up to 25 MHz of T-Mobile’s cellular spectrum in four counties in South Carolina. T-Mobile also acquired 10 MHz of HTC’s 600 MHz spectrum in two counties in North Carolina. Post-transaction, T-Mobile will hold 293-338 MHz, including 74 MHz of below-one-GHz spectrum, and HTC 92-137 MHZ, including 12-37 MHz below 1 GHz spectrum, in the South Carolina markets, the order said. T-Mobile would hold 390 MHz, including 76 MHz below 1 GHz, in the North Carolina counties. The FCC noted that only EchoStar objected, citing spectrum aggregation concerns. “Based on our review of the record and our market-by-market analysis, we find that the likelihood of competitive harm is low in the markets that are the subject of these transactions, despite T-Mobile’s increase in total spectrum holdings and low-band spectrum holdings,” the FCC said: “We disagree with EchoStar that the proposed assignments would disserve the public interest.”

The global wireless industry saw “continued strong wireless cellular expansion” in Q2, with growth in the IoT powering the trend, 5G Americas said Tuesday. Global IoT subscriptions stand at 3.4 billion, with 6.7 billion smartphone subscriptions, the group said, based in part on data from Omdia. Global forecasts suggest IoT subscriptions will reach 5.2 billion by 2029, with smartphone subscriptions at 8.2 billion, 5G Americas said. “The market is realizing 5G networks are more than just smartphones,” noted Viet Nguyen, the group's vice president-PR and technology: “Enterprise and business cases are emerging that showcase 5G’s versatility across a range of uses, utilizing [IoT]-connected devices like sensors, cameras, and many more solutions in both public and private 5G networks.”

The FCC’s Broadband Data Task Force will host a webinar on Oct. 24, 3 p.m. EDT, to provide guidance about how to challenge the mobile coverage data reflected in the national broadband map. “Challenges submitted by consumers and other stakeholders play an important role in the FCC’s ongoing effort to provide accurate and precise information regarding mobile service availability across the country,” said a Tuesday notice. The FCC will also host several virtual office hours sessions later this fall to answer questions about the challenge process and on submitting bulk mobile challenges, the FCC said.

Ligado urged the FCC to move forward on an order reallocating the 1675-1680 MHz band for shared commercial use licensed on a nationwide basis but limited to uplink-only use. The company noted that a NOAA report found that it's feasible to open the band to sharing with commercial uplink-only operations. The FCC sought comment on the band five years ago (see 2006010057). “In the years since the release of the NPRM, the record in this proceeding has come to reflect the substantial commercial potential of the band,” said Ligado's filing posted Monday in docket 19-116: “The record contains ample evidence for the viability of this approach.”

T-Mobile said on Tuesday Ookla rated its Metro offering as the nation’s fastest prepaid provider. “With median download speeds at 217 Mbps, everything from mobile gaming, downloading 4K content, video calls and so much more are going to be faster than ever,” T-Mobile said.

Citing solid financial results, Goldman Sachs rated the three major U.S. wireless carriers as "buys" and picked AT&T as its top choice. "We believe investors are bullish on [AT&T] given solid commentary throughout the quarter with no apparent shift in management tone,” Goldman Sachs said Monday: “We think expectations are modestly elevated given the constructive wireless backdrop, offset by likely lower consumer broadband expectations given the union strike impact.”

CTIA asked on Tuesday for an additional 10 days to finalize an application to serve as a cybersecurity labeling administrator (CLA) under the FCC’s voluntary cyber-trust mark program (see 2409100052). Applications are due Oct. 1. “Given the number and complexity of demonstrations, commitments, and certifications that the Bureau asks applicants to make, it will be a significant challenge to prepare a comprehensive and complete application in the 20 days allotted by the Public Notice,” said a filing in docket 23-239. The notice “acknowledges this reality” and notes that “applicants requiring additional time may … request an extension of time for up to 10 additional calendar days to complete their applications,” CTIA said.