CTIA and others encouraged the FCC to make more spectrum bands available for 5G, in comments on reports to Congress required by the Spectrum Pipeline Act. Comments were due Tuesday on an August public notice, seeking feedback on results of 2015 rule changes to the 3.55-3.65 GHz band and on other bands that can be reallocated for broadband (see 1808100033). The U.S. wireless industry needs spectrum to keep up with the world, CTIA said in docket 14-177. “Other countries, from Asia to Europe, are moving aggressively to lead the world in 5G and are actively working to make spectrum available for 5G in both mid-band and high-band spectrum ranges,” CTIA said. “China, for example, reserved spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 GHz band for 5G use in 2017 and has committed two gigahertz of high-band spectrum for each major wireless operator.” Other commenters filed on a third Further NPRM on the spectrum frontiers. The Competitive Carriers Association applauded Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to simultaneously auction the 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands. “In addition to these worthwhile efforts, opening up additional bands, such as the 26 GHz and 42 GHz bands, for wireless broadband will help continue the deployment of critical wireless services to all consumers. Competitive carriers need access to a variety of spectrum resources to deploy next-generation mobile broadband technologies, including to support the Internet of Things and 5G,” CCA said. The Wireless ISP Association said the FCC should confirm that the lower 37 GHz band will be available on a coordinated shared licensed basis. “Low-barrier shared spectrum is critical for small providers, new market entrants, and competitive fixed wireless providers alike to have access to the spectrum necessary to deploy broadband in areas that are underserved or lack competition,” WISPA said. The Open Technology Institute at New America also said the lower 37 GHz band should be shared. “Authorization of a third-party and ultimately automated coordination framework will facilitate the most intensive and cost-effective degree of shared access,” OTI commented. OTI supported site-based registration through a third-party coordinator. “Pressure on existing licensed mobile and unlicensed spectrum bands will continue to intensify due to the growing consumer demand for wireless connectivity, and the bands identified in the FNPRM will certainly serve an important role in providing 5G,” Qualcomm said, asking to “authorize mobile and fixed operations in these bands using licensed and shared unlicensed regulatory paradigms.”

Amdocs, CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google, Key Bridge Wireless and Sony filed in docket 15-319 proposals at the FCC to serve as the first spectrum access system (SAS) administrators in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. Ruckus and Fairspectrum earlier filed (see 1809100051). Federated said Monday it filed its proposal to make initial commercial deployment (ICD) in the band and to unveil a training program for certified professional installers of CBRS devices. “We have not only submitted our proposal to the FCC, we’ve done so on an astonishingly large scale, which underscores the scope of shared spectrum adoption in the wireless industry and signals true commercialization of the band right out of the gate,” blogged Federated CEO Iyad Tarazi. “It’s taken us five years to get here, and we’re not stopping now.” Google said its SAS can support service anywhere in the U.S. “For ICD, however, Google anticipates discrete deployments in various locations around the country,” the tech player said. “Locations will be selected based on the participants’ joint business interests, as well as on the need to protect Tier 1 incumbent systems.” Google said its different deployments will be used to test various conditions: “Deployment at one site may demonstrate protection of nearby [grandfathered wireless protection zones]. Deployment at another site may demonstrate protection of [fixed satellite service operators]. Yet another site may involve overlapping coverage with another SAS.”

Bank of America estimated iPhone prices would increase by as much as 20 percent if Apple followed through with President Donald Trump’s call for it to shift its factory operations to the U.S. “Apple prices may increase because of the massive Tariffs we may be imposing on China -- but there is an easy solution,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “Make your products in the United States instead of China. Start building new plants now.” Moving production “(100 percent of final assembly) to the U.S.,” the company would need “20 percent price increases to offset the incremental labor costs,” analyst Wamsi Mohan said.

Verizon and Nokia completed the first over-the-air, end-to-end data transmission on a commercial 3rd Generation Partnership Project 5G new radio (NR) network in Washington, D.C., sending a signal over Nokia radio equipment and Verizon’s high-band spectrum and 5G network core to a Nokia test van downtown. “The transmission was part of the two companies’ ongoing demonstrations of 5G NR technology before commercial 5G mobile service launches in 2019,” Verizon said Thursday. “In August, Verizon and Nokia completed the first successful transmission of a 3GPP NR 5G signal to a receiver situated in a moving vehicle. In June, they completed a series of outdoor data sessions over the 5G NR standard, and the successful multi-carrier aggregation to boost those signals into Gbps range.”

The launch of 5G offers benefits and challenges to Verizon, Macquarie’s Amy Yong wrote investors. “5G home broadband faces three hurdles: 1) the technology is unproven; 2) Fios’ execution set the bar high; and 3) cable already offers 1 Gbps speeds." The analyst compared the launch with that of Fios: “This time, Verizon is much smarter but so is cable.” Based on Macquarie's survey, 64 percent wouldn't pay a premium to cable for Verizon’s 1 Gbps speeds. Verizon also has learned from its Fios experience, she said. “Its Fios deployment was met with long/messy municipality approval processes.” The initial 5G cities -- Los Angeles, Sacramento, Houston and Indianapolis -- "were picked based on fiber access, topography, population density, ease of municipal approval and competitive landscape,” she said.

Qualcomm regards 2019 and 2020 as likely “building years” for 5G smartphones as a prelude to the market reaching “scale” in 2021, said Chief Financial Officer George Davis at a Citi investors conference Wednesday. Every major smartphone OEM will have “rolled over to 5G” by 2021, he said. That Qualcomm knows of one “very large OEM” customer that plans no 5G smartphone launch in 2019 leads the company to believe that the market won’t be “ready for scale” until 2020 or later, he said. The componentry that Qualcomm markets for 4G smartphones “has an integrated modem,” he said. “Everything is very efficient and uber-effective” and is a “great value proposition for the supply chain,” he said. “You’ll have all that” with 5G, but not until 2021, he said. That will give Qualcomm at least a year and a half for the “debugging of everything,” learning all the “pain points that come with any generation change,” he said. It’s not easy to compare the predicted 5G ramp with the launch of 4G six years ago, said Davis. Average selling prices (ASPs) of the componentry that will go into a 5G smartphone will go up because those devices “are more complex,” he said. “They're bigger. They provide more functionality. So, that's a positive.” With the 5G ramp, “you won't have the same degree of unit growth behind it” as the industry had with the 4G launch, because the smartphone market is more mature and can’t support that same “sheer growth,” he said. Nevertheless, “from our standpoint, it's a very important time for improving share and improving ASPs and I think that's really what plays out over the over the next few years,” he said.

Lower small-cell attachment and application fees would mean more widespread deployment of 5G, Corning said, posted Thursday in FCC docket 17-79. Corning funded the report by CMA Strategy Consulting. “Reducing small cell attachment and application fees could reduce deployment costs by $2.1 billion over five years, or $7,900 per small cell built,” Corning said. “These cost savings could lead to an additional $2.6 billion in capital expenditure due to additional neighborhoods moving from being economically unviable to becoming economically viable, with 97 percent of this capital expenditure going towards investment in rural and suburban areas.”

AT&T named Indianapolis as the seventh city to get early mobile 5G. Indianapolis is also one of the four cities Verizon targeted for initial launch (see 1808270047). “Indy is a city on the forefront of innovation and technology,” said Bill Soards, president AT&T Indiana, Thursday.

T-Mobile notified the FCC it received a subpoena from the New York State attorney general as part a review of the pending T-Mobile/Sprint transaction (see 1808300046). The office asked for numbering resource utilization and forecast reports and carrier-specific local number portability data, T-Mobile said. “This subpoena requires that T-Mobile provide ‘[a]ll Documents . . . received from . . . [FCC] in connection with the . . . FCC’s investigation of the Proposed Transaction,’” T-Mobile said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-197. “All materials provided to the NYAG are made available to other state attorneys general that are investigating the transaction and that have signed confidentiality agreements with T-Mobile and Sprint.” Meanwhile, Crown Castle filed a letter at the FCC, posted Thursday, supporting the deal. “The combination of these two smaller nationwide wireless providers will advance the national priority of fast-tracking 5G deployment and create a company with the spectrum and other necessary resources to help the U.S. win the global race for 5G leadership,” the tower company said. “We anticipate that, in addition to consumers and enterprise consumers, Crown Castle and other companies throughout the mobile wireless supply chain can benefit from New T-Mobile’s investment in its next-generation wireless network.”

Verizon will face lots of competition in each of the four cities targeted for an initial 5G launch, Kagan reported. “Verizon will be competing against deep-rooted market incumbents.” Comcast is the big player in three of the markets -- Houston, Indianapolis and Sacramento, while Charter Communications dominates in Los Angeles, Kagan said. “Though each market has a broadband penetration rate above 70%, Verizon is clearly hoping to challenge the cable bundle, as it is offering Alphabet's YouTube TV and Apple Inc.'s Apple TV 4K as part of its broadband package in the four launch cities."