CTIA and member company representatives spoke with aides to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, asking that a 5G Fund auction occur only after funding is released for the broadband access, equity and deployment program. This has been a recurring concern for wireless companies (see 2403260052). “Although the wireless industry is making record investments to deploy 5G nationwide, there are some areas where difficult geography or sparse population mean that subsidies will be necessary to support mobile broadband,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-32. "While the BEAD program will not directly fund mobile broadband deployment, it is likely to result in the deployment of fiber broadband backhaul facilities and fixed wireless services that will facilitate the expansion of unsubsidized 5G coverage in rural areas."

Samsung Electronics America representatives met with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff about the company’s request for a waiver on a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum, said a filing posted Friday in docket 22-93. “Samsung respectfully again urges the Commission to expeditiously grant Samsung’s waiver request based on sound engineering and clear public interest benefits,” the company said. Samsung representatives also met last week with aides for Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2404240036).

NTIA “is hard at work” implementing the national spectrum strategy, the agency said as it offered details on its progress. Derek Khlopin, deputy associate administrator-spectrum planning and policy in the Office of Spectrum Management, is now in charge of implementing the plan for NTIA, the agency said: “First up: initiating technical studies of spectrum bands -- including a process to streamline funding to federal agencies -- and kicking off the exploration and demonstration of advanced spectrum management techniques including Dynamic Spectrum Sharing.” NTIA is working with other federal agencies on “streamlining” the process for receiving money from the spectrum relocation fund (SRF) and anticipates distributing funds in October. “We expect that more than 10 federal agencies will seek funding, and our hope is this streamlined process will make the application process easier and quicker for these agencies,” it said. Under a three-step process, each agency must submit an application for funding, which is reviewed by a Technical Panel, chaired by NTIA, with representatives from the Office of Management and Budget and the FCC, which considers the request. “If approved by the Technical Panel, OMB notifies Congress and, after a mandatory 60-day waiting period, disperses the funds to each requesting agency,” NTIA said. It noted the presentation DOD made at CTIA this month on dynamic spectrum sharing (see 2404080063) but said it was “separate and apart” from a study that’s getting underway on the lower 3 GHz band's future. NTIA released the implementation plan for the strategy in March (see 2403120056).

T-Mobile reported a “best in industry” 532,000 net postpaid phone additions in Q1 and 405,000 customers added to its Home Internet service Thursday. Service revenue was $16.1 billion, up 4% year over year, with net income of $2.4 billion, up 22%. T-Mobile reported postpaid churn of 0.86%. The carrier was the last of the big three to report.

T-Mobile opposed expanded space operations in the 2110-2120 MHz portion of the AWS-1 band, joining its wireless peers (see 2404020028). “That spectrum has been auctioned by the Commission as part of the AWS-1 frequency band (2110-2155 MHz) and is heavily employed by wireless companies to provide service to customers,” the carrier said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 13-155: “T-Mobile currently has 185 licenses in the AWS-1 band and spent over $4 billion in Auction 66, which resulted in the licensing of most of the AWS-1 band.”

The 5G Automotive Association met with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on proposals the group made in June 2021 comments seeking a revised definition of cellular vehicle to everything in the 5.9 GHz band. “C-V2X direct communication in the 5.9 GHz band enables ultra-low latency information sharing among vehicles, roadway infrastructure, and vulnerable road users to enable safer travel, reduce roadway congestion and accidents, and, most importantly, save lives,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-138. “The use of C-V2X to provide traffic signal state information to cars, for example, supports red light running violation warnings and promotes general environmental and fuel efficiency benefits by allowing vehicles to avoid unnecessary braking,” 5GAA said.

NTIA hired Shiva Goel, who was an aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, as senior advisor-spectrum policy, NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said Wednesday. Scott Harris served in that role previously. He left the agency a month ago. Since then, questions arose about who would oversee NTIA’s implementation of the national spectrum strategy (see 2404030033). Davidson also announced Francella Ochillo as director-public engagement. Ochillo was a technology and society fellow at Georgetown University.

Samsung Electronics America representatives met with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about the company’s request for a waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041). The company refuted concerns raised about the potential interference threat to CBRS (see 2404090058). Samsung was “the first phone manufacturer to offer a phone operating in CBRS in the United States and a leading supplier of CBRS base stations around the country,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-93: “Samsung has every incentive to ensure its proposed radio does not intentionally interfere with its and others’ CBRS radios.” The waiver request “has been pending more than 600 days and is ripe for grant,” the company said.

The Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) defended its push for assigning 4.9 GHz band spectrum to FirstNet (see 2401190067), in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 07-100. It’s important that the FCC “preserve access to the band for incumbent users, while taking steps to increase nationwide usage as well as leverage the unique characteristics of this mid-band spectrum to supercharge 5G capabilities for a broader array of public safety users,” the PSSA said: Under current rules “the band would remain balkanized and underutilized nationwide -- as it has for more than two decades.” Giving the FirstNet Authority access is “the clear and obvious path to advance the public interest,” the group said.

Fixed wireless access compares favorably to fiber in the eyes of consumers, said a new Ericsson report surveying 2,000 U.S. households. Respondents "believe 5G Fixed Wireless achieves fiber-level performance while delivering an equitable service experience to Fiber,” the report said. 5G FWA and fiber were rated similarly on capacity, in-door coverage, latency, reliability, security and speed. FWA won in two categories, customer loyalty and price, but lost to fiber on equipment quality. "This enthusiasm for FWA among users is highlighted by the fact that fewer than 1 in 10 households using 5G FWA would consider terminating their subscription within a year," the report said: "Notably, residents of metropolitan areas and of rural towns and villages report the highest 5G FWA network satisfaction."