A two-week, worldwide Conference Preparation Meeting (CPM) for the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference ended in Geneva Thursday. The next step is release of a 1,000-page report expected within the next month. The CPM was a success, with a record 1,300 participants from 107 member states, ITU officials said during a news media call.

AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Dish Network, Starry, U.S. Cellular and Windstream qualified to buy spectrum licenses in the 24 GHz auction, which starts March 14, the FCC said Wednesday. Cox's application was deemed not qualified. A public notice said 38 applicants qualified to participate and 22 didn't. Forty bidders were cleared for the 28 GHz auction, which ended Jan. 24. Seven OK'd applicants claimed eligibility for a rural service provider or small business bidding credit. Dish isn’t listed but appears to be behind Crestone, records show. Columbia Capital has ties to qualified bidder High Band. The FCC recently completed the 28 GHz auction, and the 24 GHz auction is about to start, Chairman Ajit Pai told Mobile World Congress Wednesday (see 1902270039). In the second half of the year, the FCC will auction together the 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands, he noted: “We had to get creative to resolve some of the incumbent interests in the 39 GHz band, and we will hold an incentive auction to resolve these encumbrances.”

The FCC needs to decide the right amount of C band to allocate for terrestrial use and then set up a competitive bidding process, Charter Communications said in a docket 18-122 posting Monday. It said such an auction could take 12 to 18 months, with the spectrum "ready for 5G use" as soon as 36 months after an order. It said the agency could require bidders to reimburse satellite providers and earth station licensees for relocation costs, and pay a "reserve charge" that would be a percentage of auction revenue to compensate them for "intangible and other costs" stemming from giving up spectrum. It called the C-Band Alliance (CBA) proposal "unprecedented and unlawful" and said it runs against U.S. security and economic interests to let foreign-owned satellite operators decide the amount of C band designated for 5G. The cable operator said that so many wireless carriers, small satellite operators, technology companies, public interest groups and cable ISPs oppose the CBA proposal shows the legal challenges the FCC could face, while an agency-controlled reallocation is least likely to see delays due to litigation because it's squarely within authority. It said the CBA proposal would spawn "backroom deals" for spectrum, and the group's assertions of reallocation in 36 months are "fanciful" given the unprecedented nature of its plan. “Apparently it was legal and proper for the cable companies to make allocation and sale decisions for critical spectrum in 2012 when they sold their AWS privately to Verizon and kept all the proceeds," emailed CBA Executive Vice President Preston Padden. "This is the Washington swamp at its worst. Cable is simply trying to protect their monopoly on high-speed broadband in 85 percent of American homes."

T-Mobile offered the FCC a revised proposal for an incentive auction in the C band. The plan “includes a mechanism through which satellite earth station registrants can participate in the auction,” T-Mobile said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-122. “Including earth station registrants will provide competition in the reverse auction and the opportunity for those entities to directly obtain auction proceeds, leading to a more efficient reallocation of spectrum.” Under the proposal, the FCC would conduct a forward auction among potential licensees for all 500 MHz of C-band spectrum in each market. The purchase price in each market would be offered to satellite operator and earth station registrant incumbents, T-Mobile said. T-Mobile “continues their spiteful attack on Broadcasters and TV Programmers who would be evicted from C-band distribution,” emailed Preston Padden, C-Band Alliance head-advocacy and government relations. “Their updated ‘Disincentive Auction’ proposal changes nothing, except to exacerbate its infeasibility. Once again, T-Mo is trying to distract everyone from their true purpose: delaying C-Band wireless deployments to ensure that, for as long as possible, New T-MO enjoys a monopoly on deploying 5G mid-band spectrum.”

CTIA urged the FCC to launch an additional NPRM to look at reserving the 6 GHz band's upper part for exclusive use licenses, while opening other parts for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use. While many other commenters in docket 18-295 emphasized the importance of unlicensed spectrum and the need for mid-band alternatives, some 6 GHz incumbents said the FCC should drop the proposal completely, saying nothing it would mandate would eliminate the risk posed by widespread unlicensed use of the band. Comments were due midnight Friday.

The C-Band Alliance (CBA), which is telling the FCC eighth floor some critics of its band-clearing plan are against competition (see 1901310050), made similar arguments with Chairman Ajit Pai, said a docket 18-122 posting Tuesday. It said it has sent more than 400 certified letters to parties potentially interested in the spectrum and its plan has broad support from various parties in multiple industries. In the docket Wednesday, the American Cable Association recapped meetings with aides to Pai and to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Mike O'Rielly, and with Wireless and International Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff. ACA said the record lacks enough information and the satellite industry should submit information on its current and projected use of the C band, plus current and projected demand for services. It backs a reverse auction, with compensation to users and operators for their expenses and foregone investments, or alternately that if the CBA proposal is adopted that C-band users are part of the negotiations. The association said if CBA and those users can't come to agreement, baseball-style arbitration would come into play. NCTA last week said it had concerns about the CBA proposal and any C-band clearing approach it adopts should include agency oversight. S&P Global said Wednesday opening the 3.7-4.2 GHz band for 5G could mean a big enough windfall for Intelsat to allow it to significantly pay down debt from its current "unsustainable" level. It said SES, the other dominant satellite user of C band in the continental U.S., could also get a higher investment rating, depending on how it uses proceeds from any spectrum sale.

Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., plans to refile the Senate version of the Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (Airwaves) Act but told reporters he has no definite timeline. The proposal aims to identify spectrum for unlicensed use and free up mid-band spectrum for wireless industry purchase via an FCC auction (see 1802070054). Some anticipated Gardner and others would refile the bill soon (see 1902050046). House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., also signaled interest in the bill (see 1901290032). “We're still working” with previous co-sponsor Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., on revised bill language, he said. Some elements of the legislation have been “picked up by the FCC” and other issues have since been “brought to our attention,” including satellite matters. The aim is to ensure “we get right” the spectrum language in the bill and “make sure that this is something that can pass,” Gardner said.

The 1996 Telecom Act was a success but needs an update to connect those still unserved, former FCC officials and industry representatives agreed Sunday on a Telecom Staff Subcommittee panel. It’s unlikely to happen this Congress due to political divisions, they said. Former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and Gigi Sohn, former aide to ex-Chairman Tom Wheeler, urged states to stand up. Some state officials responded that pre-emption makes that difficult.

Clearing C-band through a mix of sale of spectrum by satellite operators and an overlay auction of terrestrial mobile licenses is meeting some skepticism. Spectrum and satellite consultant Tim Farrar blogged Saturday that no side in the band-clearing debate is seemingly interested in compromise, though the sale-overlay auction mix is obvious. Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, said even if the idea were practical, it would "be just another fig leaf [justifying] an unnecessary and unjustifiable windfall" for satellite operators.

T-Mobile “remains optimistic and confident” regulators will approve its buy of Sprint, as reviews reach their final stages, CEO John Legere told analysts Thursday as the company reported Q4 results. The New York Public Service Commission applied jobs conditions as it voted 3-0 Thursday to clear T-Mobile/Sprint in the agency’s consent agenda, which requires no discussion. The deal is likely to be approved by the end of the first half of the year, Legere said: “If not in the bottom of the ninth inning, it’s in the late innings.”