Howard Buskirk

Dish Network filed an agreement at the FCC Wednesday to buy 800 MHz spectrum licenses from T-Mobile. Dish also asked a federal court in D.C. to delay the terms of the deal, allowing the purchase to slip until next summer, giving it more time to put together funding, Dish confirmed Thursday. "DISH and T-Mobile jointly filed an application seeking authority from the FCC to transfer the 800 MHz licenses to DISH," a Dish spokesperson emailed: "To give DISH more time to responsibly finance the purchase of this spectrum, DISH also filed a motion in the District Court for the District of Columbia today to modify the Final Judgment to extend the timeline for the actual divestiture until June 30, 2024." The spectrum was part of a complicated set of arrangements allowing T-Mobile to complete its buy of Sprint. Dish was required to pay $3.6 billion to buy the licenses, with a $72 million fee for walking away from the deal (see 1907260071). “Grant of the Application will further important public interest benefits well-recognized by the Commission,” told the FCC. “In its order approving the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, the Commission explicitly recognized the benefits of DISH entering the market as the fourth nationwide, facilities-based provider deploying a 5G network. … The terms of the Final Judgment are designed to facilitate DISH’s entry into the wireless market as a facilities-based provider and grant of the instant Application would further this important objective and enhance competition in the mobile wireless marketplace by making DISH a stronger competitor in the offering of mobile voice and broadband services.” The filing was made through Dish subsidiary American H Block Wireless Holding. Dish had until Aug. 11 before T-Mobile would terminate the offer, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said on an earnings call last month (see 2307270064). “We’re in discussions with Dish about whether or not there might be a win-win that’s different from their initial privilege,” he said at the time.

The current iteration of the FCC’s Technology Advisory Council, with its focus on 6G, held its final meeting Thursday, its first meeting in 2023. TAC members approved two white papers and reports by its working groups. Andrew Clegg, co-chair of the Advanced Spectrum Sharing Working Group, told TAC the group faced roadblocks getting data from the government. TAC approved recommendations and a white paper from the WG, which the FCC hasn't posted.

5G depends on the allocation of additional licensed spectrum, like the 3.1 GHz band that’s the current focus of federal policymakers (see 2308150066), said Oku Solutions CEO David Witkowski during an IEEE webinar Wednesday. Fixed-wireless access has been described as 5G’s first “killer app,” but there will be others, said Witkowski, also co-chair of the Deployment Working Group of the IEEE Future Networks Technical Community.

The COVID-19 pandemic sent educators scrambling when schools closed overnight in March 2020, said Jason Amos, National School Boards Association director-communications, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. The “silver lining” is that the pandemic led to better broadband buildout, he said. Experts said schools continue to face challenges, including the advent of generative AI.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld a 2022 FCC decision revoking Pacific Networks’ and its subsidiary ComNet’s authority to offer domestic or international services in the U.S. (see 2203160031). The FCC “revoked these authorizations based on concerns that the carriers posed national-security risks and had proven themselves untrustworthy,” said a Tuesday decision written by Judge Gregory Katsas, in docket 22-1054. “The carriers argue that the FCC’s reasoning was substantively arbitrary and was rendered with inadequate process,” he said: “We reject both contentions.” The U.S. “has grown increasingly concerned about espionage and other threats from Chinese-owned telecommunications companies,” Katsas wrote. He noted Team Telecom weighed in after the FCC ordered Pacific Networks and ComNet to show cause in 2020 why their authorizations shouldn’t be revoked, saying “China’s Ownership” of the companies “raised ‘significant concerns’ that the carriers would be ‘forced to comply with Chinese government requests, including requests for communications intercepts.’” The carriers contend the FCC “unreasonably found a threat to national security,” Katsas said. “But the Commission meticulously explained -- over the span of 62 pages -- how the carriers’ domestic operations threaten national security,” he said. “We cannot second-guess the FCC’s judgment that allowing China to access this information poses a threat to national security,” the court said. The FCC “adequately explained its decision to revoke Pacific Networks’ and ComNet’s authorizations, and it afforded adequate process to the carriers,” Katsas wrote: “We therefore deny the petition for review.” Circuit Judges Harry Edwards and Karen Henderson joined the decision. The judges were on the same panel that upheld the FCC's revocation of China Telecom Americas’ domestic and international authorities last year (see 2111150025).

CTIA asked the government to reallocate the top 150 MHz of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band to wireless broadband, noting the spectrum is seen globally as a “core 5G workhorse, providing the capacity needed to connect the industries of the future.” More than 70 countries are planning or using 5G in this band, and in 30 of those countries it safely coexists with the same U.S. military radar systems that are used domestically, CTIA said Tuesday. CTIA released three other reports, by GSMA, DLA Piper and CCS Insights, exploring how the military uses the band.

T-Mobile asked the FCC for special temporary authority to use the 2.5 GHz spectrum licenses it won in a 2020 auction in Maui, Hawaii, as the island starts its recovery from a devastating wildfire. The carrier has failed to get the FCC to allow use of all the licenses through STAs while the agency waits for Congress to reauthorize its auction authority (see 2307070042). The STA application “may be granted without being listed in a Public Notice because the requested authority is necessary to address extraordinary circumstances requiring operation in the public interest and delay in the institution of such service would seriously prejudice the public interest,” T-Mobile said Tuesday. “The requested STA will permit T-Mobile to deploy up to 190 MHz of contiguous spectrum on” Maui, “using Channels 1 and 2 to increase capacity for mobile and fixed home internet on the island, including the ability to support mobile hotspots devices as part of relief efforts,” the carrier said, noting the STA will benefit more than 156,000 people, based on 2020 census data. As of Dec. 30, T-Mobile said it offered fixed internet to some 13,000 homes and business in Maui. “As the Commission is aware, the island of Maui has been devastated by raging wildfires that have resulted in the deaths of at least 99 people, complete destruction of the town of Lahaina, and damage or destruction to numerous other homes and businesses,” T-Mobile said.

Wireless carriers see the 12.7 GHz band, also known as the 13 GHz band, as a candidate for reallocation for 5G, and eventually 6G, based on comments filed last week at the FCC. But carriers consider the band in general inferior to 3.1 GHz and other bands with less packet loss and better propagation characteristics. Broadcasters, the satellite industry and NTIA also raised concerns.

Chinese tech giant Huawei reported its revenue grew 3% over the same period last year in the first half of 2023 and its profit margin increased despite U.S. and other international sanctions. Andy Purdy, Huawei chief security officer, said in an interview Friday Huawei remains open to better relations with the U.S., and blocking Huawei won’t make the U.S. safer.

NTCA and the Rural Wireless Association warned of looming costs for smaller carriers if the FCC approves rules to facilitate a move to next-generation 911, in comments on a June NPRM (see 2306080043). The FCC’s proposed approach got general support from the National Association of State 911 Administrators, the National Emergency Number Association and other public safety commenters (see 2308090036), but industry is raising concerns. Comments were due at the FCC Wednesday in docket 21-479 and were still being posted Thursday.