The Enterprise Wireless Alliance disputed NextNav's arguments about the company’s proposal for reconfiguring the 900 MHz band. NextNav's Oct. 31 filing addressed concerns that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and EWA raised (see 2409090015). “NextNav states that EWA’s concerns about interference are ‘misplaced’ because ‘EWA appears to envision two separate network deployments -- one for 5G and another for next-generation geolocation,’” EWA said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 24-240: “That is not and never has been EWA’s understanding. Its Comments made clear EWA’s understanding that there would be a single network.” EWA added it’s “the impact of that prospective commercial broadband network that will host NextNav’s proposed [terrestrial positioning, navigation and timing] operation that is of significant concern to EWA.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau said it's examining carriers' numbering resource utilization and forecast (NRUF) reports and carrier-specific local number portability (LNP) data as it examines the T-Mobile/UScellular deal; it doesn't plan to disclose the data publicly. Consistent with past practices, "we will make such information available to participants in this proceeding, but limit such access to their Outside Counsel of Record and Outside Consultants whom they retain to assist them in this proceeding, and their Outside Counsel’s and Outside Consultants’ employees,” said a Tuesday order in docket 24-286. The bureau said in a separate notice providers have until Dec. 6 “to oppose the limited disclosure of their NRUF and LNP data pursuant to the protective order.” T-Mobile announced in May a plan where it will acquire “substantially all” of UScellular’s wireless operations in a deal valued at about $4.4 billion, including $2 billion in assumed debt (see 2405280047). Also Tuesday, the FCC referred the transaction to the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Service Sector. The agency wants a review of “national security or law enforcement concerns related to the applications." DOJ requested that step (see 2411200013). The committee is informally known by its former name, Team Telecom.

Global mobile network data traffic could grow by almost 200% between 2024 and the end of 2030, Ericsson said in its much-watched mobility report, released Tuesday. Ericsson forecasts 6.3 billion global 5G subscriptions by the end of 2030, with 60% stand-alone 5G. 5G stand-alone (SA) and 5G-advanced “are expected to be key focuses for communications service providers for the remainder of the decade as they deploy new capabilities to create offerings centered on value delivery rather than data volume,” Ericsson said. A quarter of all mobile subscriptions are expected to be 5G at the end of this year. 5G is expected to overtake 4G as the dominant mobile access technology in 2027, the report said. That’s a year earlier than previous predictions. Of the 320 carriers offering commercial 5G services, fewer than 20% are 5G SA, the report said: “The densification of mid-band and 5G SA sites is seen as a key catalyst to capitalize on the full potential of 5G, including programmable and intelligent network capabilities.” Fixed wireless access is growing rapidly, with 350 million global FWA connections expected by the end of 2030, the report said.

Open radio access networks are poised to change the telecom industry, as advances first seen in greenfield networks are deployed in legacy systems, 5G Americas said in a paper released Monday. “While ORAN offers numerous advantages, including flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, the integration of components from multiple vendors can be complex,” 5G Americas said. But work that will support ORAN adoption “through funding, test labs, and policies -- can mitigate these challenges.” The mobile wireless industry is “on the brink of a revolution” and ORAN deployment “is not just a fleeting trend but a substantial shift towards more efficient, cost-effective, open, and flexible network infrastructures,” the paper said: While new networks, “built from scratch, have garnered much of the initial attention, looking ahead, the focus shifts to brownfield operators in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, who are embracing Open RAN while leveraging the inherited values of cloud infrastructure and automation tools to enhance operational efficiency.”

EchoStar, RS Access and Go Long Wireless reached an agreement with the Navajo Nation that allows it to use as much as 100 MHz of the 12.2 GHz band for wireless if the FCC approves fixed wireless use of the spectrum. The agreement was filed Monday at the FCC in docket 20-443. The companies hold nearly 90% of multichannel video distribution and data service licenses nationwide “and they stand ready to extend the agreement provided herein on the same terms to any Tribal entity,” the filing said. “This approach would help close the longstanding digital divide for hard-to-reach Tribal lands, while simultaneously respecting tribal sovereignty and self-determination.” The agreement is "a direct spectrum assignment to participating Tribal entities, empowering them to deploy the spectrum as they see fit,” the companies said.

The Wireless Future Program at New America is calling on policymakers to take a harder look at rules for indoor-only use of spectrum bands, as the administration studies the future of the lower 3 and 7/8 GHz bands. Michael Calabrese, director of the program, said the group filed its report at the NTIA, at the agency's urging, as part of a multistakeholder review process last month and Monday released a public version. “The potential benefits of different rules for indoor-only use are becoming more evident,” the report said, noting the FCC’s 2020 decision to authorize low-power, indoor (LPI) use across the 6 GHz band. Incumbent licensees already are using the spectrum, including more than 50,000 high-power fixed microwave links, the report said: LPI use is limited “to roughly one-fourth the standard power of Wi-Fi, yet is considered extremely useful since the vast majority of internet data (including at least 80% of mobile device data traffic) is transmitted indoors and over Wi-Fi.” LPI in 6 GHz “highlights the potential to authorize indoor-only use in many other bands where users comply with power, device form factor, database coordination, or other technical requirements necessary to protect the primary licensees from harmful interference,” New America said. While LPI in 6 GHz is authorized under Part 15 of the commission’s rules, “LPI can be adopted as part of a licensed-by-rule framework or licensed exclusively to select categories of facilities (such as factories and schools),” the report said. It notes DOD concerns about sharing the lower 3 GHz band, which the military uses broadly. “Similarly, large portions of the 7 GHz band” are “currently used by sensitive military systems in the United States and in Europe (e.g., NATO operations in 7250–7750 MHz).” New America points to five frequency ranges that may be particularly suitable for LPI use: 3100–3450, 7125–7250, 7250–7750 and 2900–3100 MHZ, and 10–10.5 GHz. Of lower 3 GHz it says that “while a dynamic coordination system should enable DOD to share at least portions of the band for low-power use outdoors … a broader underlay authorization for LPI use should be considered as an option for this band.”

Attorneys general from 15 states asked the FCC to move forward on uniform handset unlocking rules, Massachusetts AG Andrea Joy Campbell (D) said Monday. “Inconsistent policies and arbitrary timelines across carriers have made purchasing a mobile phone and choosing a service provider all too confusing and expensive for consumers,” Campbell said. Proposed in a unanimously approved NPRM (see 2407180037), the rules' outlook could be in doubt given the pending change in administrations (see 2411150043). The rules “will benefit consumers by reducing handset costs, increasing competition between providers, and creating a clear and uniform timeline for unlocking devices so that consumers can pursue the services that best meet their needs,” the letter said. AGs from Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island also signed the letter.

T-Mobile asked that the FCC direct the Universal Service Administrative Co. to make Q-Link Wireless reimburse it for money it owes for using the T-Mobile network. Q-Link Wireless CEO Issa Asad faces prison time and a fine of more than $100 million after pleading guilty to fraud tied to the FCC’s Lifeline program (see 2410160029). Q-Link is required to provide restitution to the commission for Lifeline fraud, but there is no provision to compensate T-Mobile for unpaid bills, said a filing posted Friday in docket 09-197. “Q LINK has been able to retain over $500 million of USF support without fully compensating T-Mobile for the services it provided to Q LINK and indirectly to consumers,” the carrier said. “Re-directing the funds to T-Mobile would simply allow it to receive the Federal benefits for the service that it ultimately provided during the term of its agreement with Q LINK and for the services that it continues to provide to Q LINK’s Lifeline program customers,” T-Mobile said.

Lending Tree asked the FCC to change some of the one-to-one robotext consent rules commissioners approved last December (see 2312130019) before they take effect Jan. 26. Company representatives met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and staff from the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-402. “LendingTree urged the Commission to adopt a narrow exception to the 1-to-1 Consent Rule for curated comparison-shopping platforms in order to preserve the ‘value that comparison shopping offers to consumers who seek specific goods and services, and the value that lead generators offers to businesses, including small businesses, seeking new customers,’” the filing said. Lending Tree said a recent survey it conducted “showed that 73% of consumers who have applied for a loan or insurance policy expect to learn about service providers that they have never heard of when comparison shopping.”

EchoStar representatives met with FCC Space Bureau staff to urge the agency to move forward on higher-power fixed service use of the lower 12 GHz band. The officials refuted a recent SpaceX study warning of interference from fixed-wireless operations in the lower 12 GHz band (see 2409040035). “We explained that SpaceX’s study was designed to fail, because it employs unrealistic assumptions, and assumes interference scenarios that bear no resemblance to fixed 5G deployments designed to avoid interference and make sharing possible,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-443.