Morgan Stanley on Thursday resumed coverage of Verizon and Frontier with an "equal weight" investment rating. The firm said Verizon appears to have a strategy for improving its performance in the wireless consumer space, and its loss of market share should slow. "When we aggregate our view on moderating industry growth, Verizon's pricing premium, the competitive environment, and Verizon's strategy to improve its wireless performance, we see 2.5-3% annual wireless service revenue growth ahead with a bull case of [about] 3-4% and a bear case of [about] 2% in each of the next three years."
The 5th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court agreed Thursday to hold in abeyance a legal challenge to an FCC ruling that lets schools and libraries use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services. The court's action came after the FCC reminded it that the agency's composition has changed since it adopted the school bus Wi-Fi ruling in 2023, and the current commission may no longer support the order (see 2507070012).
NCTA opposed Airspan Networks’ request last month for a waiver allowing it to manufacture a multiband radio device that operates across the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) and C bands. “The FCC has seen deep interest by wireless providers in deployment of 5G service in both the 3450 MHz and the 3700 MHz bands, and there is an ongoing, recognized and growing need for base station manufacturers to support operations in these bands cost-effectively,” Airspan said in its request.
EchoStar and the Rural Wireless Association urged the FCC to reject waivers allowing Grain Management's proposed purchase of T-Mobile's 800 MHz spectrum in exchange for cash and Grain's 600 MHz spectrum portfolio (see 2503210033). Utility groups weighed in to support the transaction. Reply comments were posted Wednesday in docket 25-178, closing out the pleading cycle.
Ookla found “significant internet performance disparities for both Wi-Fi and mobile” at airports, it said in a survey released Tuesday. The report noted that connectivity is now something travelers expect.
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Tuesday sought comment on a CTIA petition asking the commission to extend a temporary waiver that allows use of the interim volume control testing method for hearing-aid compatibility compliance (see 2507020051). Comments are due July 18, replies July 28, in dockets 23-388 and 20-3. Without further action, the current waiver would expire Sept. 29. “We seek comment on whether we should grant CTIA’s petition to extend use of the temporary volume control standard beyond the upcoming … expiration date and, if so, for how long,” the bureau said.
Despite businesses' “slower-than-expected” adoption rates, the outlook for reduced capability (RedCap) technology (see 2412240026) remains strong, Omdia said Tuesday, projecting 700 million global connections by 2030. RedCap and enhanced RedCap technologies “deliver innovative solutions that effectively bridge the crucial gap between high-performance 5G and low-power IoT applications,” Omdia said. Advantages include improved performance for midtier IoT applications, “providing a cost-effective migration path from LTE,” lower device complexity through a simplified architecture, “seamless integration with existing network infrastructure” and “improved power consumption for extended device longevity.”
Oliver Semans, executive director of the Coalition of Large Tribes (COLT), asked the FCC to reconsider its plan not to offer a tribal priority window for the AWS-3 auction (see 2507030049). “I understand it is late in the process for the AWS-3 auction, which is fast approaching, but I write to express the importance of spectrum access to the COLT member tribes,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 25-59. The 2.5 GHz priority window was “a great success among" them.
Various groups opposed Verizon’s proposed purchase of UScellular spectrum licenses, as the regional carrier seeks to sell off most of its spectrum holdings. The Verizon deal is contingent on a larger transaction with T-Mobile, in which it's buying “substantially all” of UScellular’s wireless operations for about $4.4 billion (see 2405280047). Verizon agreed in October to buy UScellular’s 850 MHz, AWS and PCS licenses for $1 billion (see 2410180004). Petitions to deny were due at the FCC on Monday in docket 25-192.
Top OneNav executives met with FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff about setting more rigorous standards for enhanced 911 location accuracy, according to a filing posted Monday in docket 25-110. The company advocated for the agency to require that E911 location information be accurate within 20 meters at least 68% of the time. OneNav also discussed its arguments that L5 signals from global navigation satellite systems can help improve horizontal accuracy of caller information (see 2506100044). Among those in the meeting were OneNav CEO Steven Poizner, Chief Technology Officer Paul McBurney and acting FCC Chief Engineer Ira Keltz.