The FCC asked for comment on a Land Mobile Communications Council proposal that the agency extend conditional licensing authority to applicants for Part 90 site-based licenses in the 470-512 MHz and 800/900 MHz bands. But the Wireless and Public Safety bureaus refused to give LMCC a waiver it also sought pending the completion of a rulemaking (http://bit.ly/1nx8Ted). The LMCC asked for the change in a May 15 petition, arguing that it would provide greater flexibility for applicants “without compromising the quality of service available in T-Band or in the 800/900 MHz bands” (http://bit.ly/V64jw2). If approved, applicants could start using the spectrum while their applications are before the FCC, provided certain conditions are met, the LMCC said. The bureaus said Monday most applicants seeking a new station or to modify an existing public land mobile radio (PLMR) station below 470 MHz are permitted to operate the proposed station during the application’s pendency for a period of up to 180 days, stating 10 days after the application is submitted to the commission. This flexibility is not allowed for applicants in the PLMR bands above 470 MHz. LMCC said in its petition the distinction no longer makes sense. Comments are due July 23, replies Aug. 7.

LTE subscribers use “dramatically larger amounts of data than 3G subscribers,” Mobidia Technology said Monday in a report. LTE subscribers in Hong Kong averaged nearly 100 percent more data consumption than 3G subscribers during the first four months of 2014, the period covered by the report. LTE subscribers in Japan, South Korea and the U.S. had the top average data usage per subscriber, with subscribers in Japan using 3 GB per month during the study period, Mobidia said. LTE subscribers are also becoming increasingly reliant on Wi-Fi, with 75 to 90 percent of all mobile data usage from LTE phones occurring on Wi-Fi networks in major LTE markets (http://bit.ly/1izWbOr).

The FCC fined Indigo Wireless $39,000 for failing to offer to consumers the required number or percentage of hearing-aid compatible handsets in 2009. In December 2010, the FCC issued a notice of apparent liability for that amount against the carrier. In a response, Indigo questioned whether it was in violation and argued that the amount of the fine was “excessive, arbitrary, and would cause financial hardship to the company,” said an Enforcement Bureau order released Friday (http://bit.ly/1rqvI5W). The bureau said it found “no basis for cancellation or reduction of the proposed forfeiture.” The bureau disputed Indigo’s contention that any violation was not willful. “Willful noncompliance is not predicated on a finding of knowledge or intent to violate the law,” the bureau said. The fine is not out of line, said the bureau: “A carrier’s failure to offer the requisite number or percentage of digital hearing aid-compatible handset models can never be regarded as a minor violation, given the significance of the requirement.” Indigo had no comment.

The value of spectrum in the upcoming AWS-3 and TV incentive auctions is hard to predict and is based on more factors than growing demands for wireless data, said Citi analysts including Michael Rollins in a research report Sunday. The value of spectrum is also affected by the number of cell sites a carrier deploys and technology, Rollins wrote. “There is an economic trade-off between buying spectrum vs. building more sites,” he said. “In effect, the economic value of spectrum is tethered to the benefit of avoided cell site costs to serve the data traffic growth.” Rollins offered projected revenue for the auctions, predicting that a 10x10 MHz block will bring in $1.97 per MHz-POP; a 5x5 block, $1.20/MHz-POP; 10 MHz uplink spectrum, $0.87/MHz-POP; and 5 MHz uplink spectrum, $0.53/MHz-POP.

Carriers need certainty on when post-auction payments are due following the AWS-3 auction, CTIA said in reply comments to the commission. Uncertainty makes planning for the auction difficult for carriers likely to spend “millions, or even billions of dollars” for AWS-3 licenses, CTIA said Monday in a filing in docket 14-78 (http://bit.ly/1lLh1JV). “Uncertainty regarding payment deadlines could complicate and/or determine how capital is raised, how cash flow is managed, and how financials are reported,” CTIA said. “With such obstacles, full auction participation may be discouraged.” Specifically, the FCC should clarify that down payments and final payments are both due in 2015. The auction is to start Nov. 13. CTIA said auctions like the AWS-3 auction generally run one or two months.

Virgin Mobile said Friday it plans to begin offering its $20-per-month payLo mobile plans Saturday. The two plans, offered in partnership with Walmart, would allow a subscriber access to either unlimited voice minutes or text messages. The unlimited voice plan would also include 50 text messages per month, while the unlimited text plan would include 50 minutes of voice per month, Virgin Mobile said. Subscribers on the payLo plans can choose between two devices -- the Kyocera Kona or the Samsung Montage. Additional voice minutes cost 10 cents per minute, while each additional text message costs 15 cents, Virgin Mobile said. Picture messages cost 25 cents per message, while Internet access costs $1.50 per megabyte (http://wervirg.in/1qq7n05).

T-Mobile’s unlimited data plans for music streaming with Rhapsody’s new unRadio service is the “latest example of ISPs using data caps to undermine net neutrality,” said Michael Weinberg, Public Knowledge vice president, in a blog post included in a Friday email to PK supporters (http://bit.ly/1pnVVmd). Some net neutrality experts are worried the deal gives less credibility to data caps, while others see the partnership as a victory for consumers (CD June 20 p8). T-Mobile has joined AT&T and Comcast as ISPs that use “data caps as a pretext to manipulate how its users experience the internet,” said Weinberg.

T-Mobile representatives explained their May 27 petition seeking guidance on data roaming rules, in a meeting Wednesday with FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman and other commission officials. The carrier sought “predictable” enforcement criteria for determining whether the terms of data roaming agreements meet the “commercially reasonable” standard adopted by the commission in its 2011 data roaming order (http://bit.ly/Ry0kWn). “The limited intervention and guidance sought by T-Mobile will provide necessary clarity for individualized negotiations and help all parties better evaluate the commercial reasonableness of offered terms,” T-Mobile said, according to an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 05-265.

AT&T’s voluntary commitment to offer wireless broadband service to 13 million new customers as a result of planned DirecTV acquisition “precedes any election it might make to access Connect America Fund Phase II support to make broadband service available in high cost areas,” the American Cable Association told FCC Wireline Bureau officials Wednesday, an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 10-90 said (http://bit.ly/1oPdbTy). AT&T has said it’s one of the concessions it will make as part of its DirecTV acquisition (CD June 18 p5). The FCC should be ready for issues that might arise if it turns out some locations included in the merger commitment might also be high-cost areas where AT&T is eligible to receive support, ACA said. The association commended the bureau for making “great strides” in developing a cost model that accurately estimates the cost of a modern network, but criticized insufficiently precise inputs for the cost of money and the take rate to estimate revenue.

The FCC proposed $34.9 million fine against Chinese company C.T.S. Technology is “impressive,” but may only be “symbolic,” said Fletcher Heald lawyer Mitchell Lazarus Friday in a blog post. The FCC said the fine would be the biggest in agency history (CD June 20 p5). If an offender won’t pay, the FCC’s usual recourse is to file a lawsuit in federal court, Lazarus wrote (http://bit.ly/SXEoED). The court’s reach may not extend to China, he said. “There is a treaty called the Hague Service Convention that may help, but we're guessing its implementation might be slow and uncertain.” Lazarus also questioned the extent to which C.T.S. actually violated the law. While C.T.S. did ship at least 10 devices to U.S. addresses, “it performed its acts in China, where it may be perfectly legal to ship jammers to U.S. addresses,” he said. While importation of the devices was “unquestionably unlawful,” wrote Lazarus, “FCC staffers, not C.T.S., did that by initiating the transactions and accepting delivery.” Citing the company for 275 devices it advertised but did not necessarily ship is still more “tenuous,” he said. “There is only one Internet; a company cannot easily promote its products on line in some parts of the world but not others.”