Wireless Internet Service Providers Association Executive Director Rick Harnish sought changes to a March 31 FCC order that opens up the 5 GHz band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use (CD Aug 15 p1), in a meeting with Brendan Carr, aide to Commissioner Ajit Pai. WISPA is one of several parties that sought changes to the rules. The record reflects “overwhelming support” for the group’s petition for partial reconsideration, said an ex parte filing by the group in docket 13-49, posted by the FCC Friday (http://bit.ly/1tzY9PD). “The new restrictions on out-of-band emissions would have severe consequences for consumers and businesses that rely” on the band, Harnish said. “WISPs use the 5725-5850 MHz band for point-to-point links of up to 65 miles, a distance that cannot be achieved in other unlicensed bands.”

Spectrum sharing is a better incentive for government spectrum use than market-based user fees, said Freedom Technologies President Janice Obuchowski and Vice President Mary Greczyn, a former Communications Daily editor, in an article in the August issue of IEEE Wireless Communications. When market-based user fees have been used as an incentive in the U.S. and elsewhere, they either have not been widely adopted or have achieved mixed results, the executives said. The U.K.’s Administered Incentive Pricing program began operating in 2005, but the nation is only now set to hold an auction of spectrum belonging to its Ministry of Defence, Obuchowski and Greczyn said. Governments can get the hoped-for results of the fees, including federal agencies reducing their spectrum footprint and increasing accountability for spectrum, through more spectrally efficient technology, commercial substitutes or improved sharing techniques, the Freedom Technologies executives said. Government spectrum users are also going to mainly respond to non-market-based factors for reducing their spectrum footprint, rather than the revenue-based factors that commercial users prioritize, they said. To be effective, user fees have to better address agencies’ opportunity costs, such as how they will meet future spectral needs, Obuchowski and Greczyn said. Spectrum sharing provides a “near-term” option that encourages spectral efficiency, efficient technologies and transparency, they said. Sharing also ensures underutilized spectrum is “put to use” and better aligns the incentives public and private users seek, the executives said.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a U.S. District Court ruling that the city government in North Platte, Nebraska, had not violated the Telecommunications Act of 1996 when it voted to deny NE Colorado Cellular’s request to constrict a 100-foot wireless tower and related support structures in city limits. NE Colorado Cellular, doing business as Viaero Wireless, had claimed North Platte violated the Telecom Act because its decision wasn’t “in writing” nor “supported by substantial evidence.” North Platte said its city planning commission had conducted a public hearing on Viaero’s request in 2012, including live testimony and letters from property owners on sites adjoining the proposed tower site, the 8th Circuit said in its ruling. The commission subsequently issued a summary report on that testimony and submitted it to the North Platte City Council. The council also conducted a public hearing on Viaero’s request and issued the hearing minutes before it denied the tower siting request because it “would not be in harmony with the character of the area,” the 8th Circuit said. The U.S. District Court in Lincoln, Nebraska, ruled in North Platte’s favor but said federal courts are split on what the Telecom Act’s “in writing” requirement means. The U.S. District Court said it agreed with the interpretation used by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in which a decision and written record don’t need to be separate writings as long as the record allows the reviewing court to “focus with precision” on a governing body’s action and its reasons for that action. The district court also said North Platte had denied Viaero’s request based on “substantial evidence.” The 8th Circuit said it agreed with the rule used by the 4th and 11th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, which had also said the Telecom Act doesn’t require that a governing body’s decision and the written record be separate documents. The 8th Circuit also said the testimony given at the North Platte City Council’s public hearing was sufficient evidence for the council to render a decision (http://1.usa.gov/VI8EFb).

Sprint unveiled an unlimited wireless plan. The Sprint $60 Unlimited Plan provides consumers with unlimited talk, text and data for $60 per month, Sprint said Thursday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1tpR6tN). To qualify for the plan, customers must buy their device through Sprint Easy Pay, and pay full retail price, or bring their own compatible device, it said. The price point is $20 less than T-Mobile’s comparable unlimited plan, a Wells Fargo analyst said. Sprint has an abundance of capacity with its spectrum pipe, “and it has now the best value in data,” Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said in a research note. “While we understand the concern about pricing pressure, by our estimates Sprint’s plans are not overly destructive to cash flow trends."

Microsoft and TracFone entered a partnership that will bring the benefits of smartphone technology and services to underserved and high-risk populations through a mobile health management program. The companies will conduct a pilot project with Miami-based Health Choice Network, the companies said Thursday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1qneYtZ). HCN will provide smartphones to diabetes patients to help them better manage their care, according to the release. The program will be offered on a Windows Phone and feature Microsoft’s suite of services and apps, the companies said.

ChargeSpot Wireless Power announced the first wireless charger that’s compatible with both Qi and PMA wireless charging standards. The company called the product an “important step forward” for offices and public locations including hotels, cafes and airports that want to offer wireless charging for cellphone users “without the risk of having to choose between different wireless charging standards.” The ChargeSpot Pocket, designed for installation in public places, installs beneath a surface where it’s hidden from sight, the company said, making it suited to design-centric environments where hygiene and safety concerns come into play. ChargeSpot Pockets are currently installed in coffee shops, hotels and offices in Canada. ChargeSpot CEO Mark Goh told us a wireless charging solution for the Rezence wireless charging standard “is in the pipeline and we'll be there when the market’s ready for Rezence.”

The global market for smart watches and other wearables will surpass $8 billion in 2018, based on an 18 percent compound annual growth rate the next four years, RNR Market Research said in a report. It estimated 130 million wearable devices will ship worldwide in 2018. The U.S. is the “single largest revenue base for this global market, and is expected to maintain its dominance” the next four years, it said. The global “ecosystem” for wearables, including components and materials for smart watches and other wearable devices, worth more than $4 billion, will surpass $14 billion by 2018, when market penetration of wearable devices will reach just under 50 percent, it said. It estimated current market penetration at just over 18 percent globally.

PCS Partners (PCSP) asked the FCC to reverse a June 10 order terminating docket 06-49, a proceeding the commission created in 2006 to examine new approaches to what it saw as an underused Multilateration Location and Monitoring Service (M-LMS) band. The FCC noted in the June order (http://bit.ly/1pUGy5k) that there has been additional activity since 2006. “Based on the record before us, and on recent developments pertaining to M-LMS operations in the 902-928 MHz band, we conclude that the various proposals for wholesale revisions of the applicable rules do not merit further consideration at this time,” the FCC found. But PCSP said the order is inconsistent with a June 30 public notice (http://bit.ly/1ljzi3t) from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau seeking comment on whether it should terminate certain dormant proceedings. Prior to release of the order terminating 06-49 “the Bureau did not issue a public notice and did not provide an opportunity for public input,” PCSP said (http://bit.ly/1rokcfB). “The Docket 06-49 Termination Order therefore does not comply with applicable rules.” The FCC should give PSCP “and other affected parties the opportunity for meaningful input that is guaranteed by the rules, including the opportunity to demonstrate why Docket 06-49 should not have been terminated,” it said. PCSP is a wireless licensee that holds various M-LMS licenses, said a lawyer for the partnership.

Samsung Electronics America will pay $2.3 million to settle with the Justice Department over allegations of providing inaccurate country of origin claims to resellers, said a DOJ news release (http://1.usa.gov/1thUGXL). The company was accused of causing “the submission of false claims for products sold on General Service Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts in violation of the Trade Agreements Act” (TAA), said the department Tuesday. “Samsung caused resellers of its products to sell items on their GSA MAS contracts in violation of the TAA by knowingly providing inaccurate information to the resellers regarding the country of origin of the goods.” The government said that “Samsung represented to the resellers, who in turn represented to federal agencies, that the specified products were made in TAA designated countries, generally Korea or Mexico, when the specified products were in fact manufactured in China, which is not a TAA designated country.” The allegations began with Robert Simmons, a former Samsung employee who made the claims under whistleblower provisions, which let the whistleblower share in any recovered money. Simmons’ share has not yet been determined, said the DOJ. The case was filed in U.S. District Court for Maryland. DOJ and Samsung noted there’s been no finding of liability related to the case. “Samsung Electronics fully cooperated with the DOJ’s investigation, and the claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only,” emailed a Samsung spokeswoman. “There has been no determination of wrongdoing by the company. We are committed to working with the government, and abiding by its regulations."

NTCA supported a petition by NTCH asking the FCC to require carriers to publicly disclose roaming rates agreed to in privately negotiated commercial contracts (CD Aug 20 p7). In a filing, NTCA said its members offer “a wide range of wireless services to their customers,” with all respondents to its latest survey saying they offer their wireless customers voice mail and text messaging (http://bit.ly/1oRl8ar). “These carriers face significant challenges, the ability to access wholesale mobile wireless roaming services at reasonable rates chief among them,” NTCA said. More than half of NTCA members that tried to negotiate data roaming or in-market roaming agreements with other providers categorize the experience as “moderately to extremely difficult,” the group said. The comment was filed in docket 05-265 and posted by the FCC Wednesday.