Spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules to implement a recent Congressional directive to reimburse certain Low Power TV (LPTV), TV translator, and FM stations for costs incurred as a result of the FCC’s incentive auction.

Auction procedures to speed the deployment of 5G services in the 28 GHz (27.5-28.35 GHz) and 24 GHz (24.25-24.45, 24.75-25.25 GHz) bands. The FCC will offer the 28 GHz and 24 GHz band licenses through two auctions with separate application and bidding processes for each auction. The application windows will run concurrently. The bidding for the 28 GHz UMFUS licenses (Auction 101) will commence on November 14, 2018, and the bidding for the 24 GHz licenses (Auction 102) will commence after the bidding concludes in Auction 101.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed next steps to prepare the upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz bands for auction. In particular, auctioning the 39 GHz and upper 37 GHz bands together presents a critical opportunity for 5G deployment as it represents the largest amount of contiguous spectrum available in the millimeter-wave bands.

Sprint and T-Mobile filed their S-4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. An S-4 is a filing that details a business combination or exchange offer and includes details such as share distribution, amounts, terms and other information relating to the transaction. Included in the S-4 from Sprint and T-Mobile is a lengthy and detailed timeline about how the companies finally reached their April merger agreement.

Poring through hundreds of pages of documents submitted to the government by T-Mobile and Sprint and transcripts of testimony in front of Congress makes it clear that going from four competitors to three — AT&T, Verizon and a combined T-Mobile-Sprint — wouldn’t pose the problems that so many fear.

Every textbook would say that fewer competitors results in high prices. But if the Sprint-T-Mobile deal was given the green light, it would almost empirically create, at least in the short term, more competition for AT&T and Verizon, not less.

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an Open Meeting on the subjects listed below on Thursday, August 2, 2018:

Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-SD) is eying ways to combine his STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act, S.

The Senate Commerce Committee took a deep dive into various government and industry efforts to make more spectrum available for 5G. Helping focus the hearing were two bills currently working their way through Congress, the SPECTRUM NOW and AIRWAVES Act. "Identifying spectrum resources not just for the next three years, but for the next 10 years and beyond is essential if we are to retain American leadership," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD). Craig Cowden, SVP of wireless technology for Charter, put in a plug for its Wi-Fi mobile broadband play.

The House Communications Subcommittee held a long-delayed Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing July 25. Notably, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai stood by the FCC's decision to designate the Sinclair-Tribune deal for hearing. Full House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) took the lead in pressing Chairman Pai on President Donald Trump's tweet criticizing the FCC for not approving the Sinclair-Tribune deal and his suggestion there was a need for a conservative voice like Sinclair's.

Computer giant Microsoft has teamed up with RTO Wireless to provide broadband access to more than a quarter million people in rural New York state and Maine. It is the latest project in the company's Airband Initiative to connect rural areas to broadband partnerships with Internet service providers, and energy companies and others. The goal is to close the rural digital divide by July 4, 2022, including by making use of unlicensed spectrum in the so-called TV white spaces between TV channels.