T-Mobile is likely to be the dominant bidder in a 2.5 GHz auction expected next year, as it fills out substantial holdings in the band. T-Mobile got the spectrum when it bought Sprint and said in August it’s adding the band to its network at 600-700 sites weekly (see 2008070026). T-Mobile asked last week to move forward on an auction next year. AT&T questioned whether T-Mobile’s holdings exceed the spectrum screen.

The FCC said 157 of the more than 400 applications by tribal entities to use 2.5 GHz during the tribal window were accepted for filing. Petitions to deny are due Oct. 15, oppositions Oct. 26 and replies to the oppositions Nov. 2. “That an application has been accepted for filing means that the application is, upon initial review, complete and contains sufficient information to be accepted for processing and further review, including a required period on which public comment on the application is sought,” said a Tuesday notice. FCC Democrats and tribal and other groups said the FCC should have kept the window open beyond Sept. 2 due to COVID-19 (see 2007310066). “This FCC has taken aggressive action to address the digital divide on Tribal lands, and the 2.5 GHz Tribal Priority Window has been perhaps the most significant,” said Chairman Ajit Pai.

The FCC is focused on Puerto Rico's specific issues, Chairman Ajit Pai assured House Commerce Vice Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., and other lawmakers in a letter posted Thursday. The agency drew “lessons from the 2017 Hurricane Season to help inform our preparedness efforts and future incident response,” he said. “The unique aspects of responding to disasters in remote areas, such as hilly, rural parts of Puerto Rico, highlighted several key areas of preparedness. Here, satellite communications and high frequency (HF) radio, such as amateur radio, take on greater significance for more isolated areas.” The FCC found it must “engage actively year-round with critical infrastructure sectors and state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments to better address and position communications needs in times of disaster” and created the Hurricane Recovery Task Force, he said.

The FCC 2.5 GHz tribal priority window closed Wednesday as scheduled with more than 400 applications, the agency said Thursday. It has been under pressure to extend by six months the window, which opened Feb. 3, but granted only a 30-day extension. As of July 31, the FCC said 229 applications had been submitted, with 55 more in the pipeline. “Tribes showed tremendous interest in the 2.5 GHz band over the past several months, and I am pleased by the large number of applications the Commission has received,” said Chairman Ajit Pai: “We are now a step closer to enabling Tribal entities to obtain this spectrum for free and quickly put it to use to bring service to rural Tribal lands.” Public Knowledge urged the FCC to open a new window. “For Tribes, closing the window before the end of the pandemic is a slap in the face that will prevent their communities from accessing the vital connections they need to engage in daily life,” PK said.

Comments are due Oct. 2, replies Oct. 19, in docket 20-221 on proposed changes to FCC ex parte rules, per a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. Under the NPRM adopted in July (see 2007100034), exemptions would include some government-to-government consultations between it and federally recognized tribal nations and communications with certain program administrators such as the toll-free numbering and reassigned numbers database administrators. The FCC also seeks comment on requiring that all written ex parte presentations be submitted before the sunshine period and replies to them be filed within the first day of that period.

Comments are due Oct. 2, replies Oct. 19, in docket 20-221 on proposed changes to FCC ex parte rules, per a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. Under the NPRM adopted in July (see 2007100034), exemptions would include some government-to-government consultations between it and federally recognized tribal nations and communications with certain program administrators such as the toll-free numbering and reassigned numbers database administrators. The FCC also seeks comment on requiring that all written ex parte presentations be submitted before the sunshine period and replies to them be filed within the first day of that period.

Comments are due Oct. 2, replies Oct. 19, in docket 20-221 on proposed changes to FCC ex parte rules, per a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. Under the NPRM adopted in July (see 2007100034), exemptions would include some government-to-government consultations between it and federally recognized tribal nations and communications with certain program administrators such as the toll-free numbering and reassigned numbers database administrators. The FCC also seeks comment on requiring that all written ex parte presentations be submitted before the sunshine period and replies to them be filed within the first day of that period.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the FCC can't further extend the priority window for tribes to apply for 2.5 GHz licenses beyond the recently approved 30-day extension through Sept. 2 (see 2007310027). Tribal groups sought a six-month extension. “The Commission cannot start the process of issuing licenses to eligible applicants until after the window closes, because we will not know the extent of mutually exclusive applications for as long as the window is open,” Pai said in letter posted Friday to members of the House and Senate, including Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Virginia Democrats: “A much longer extension would therefore substantially delay our award of licenses to Tribal entities and thus delay their ability to use this spectrum to connect those consumers living on Tribal lands.”

Some lawmakers and advocates believe Capitol Hill’s inability to agree on an additional COVID-19 aid bill that includes broadband funding presents an opening for the issue to become a focus during the presidential and congressional campaigns this fall, they told us. Congress provided some related funding in March via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (see 2003250046).

Some lawmakers and advocates believe Capitol Hill’s inability to agree on an additional COVID-19 aid bill that includes broadband funding presents an opening for the issue to become a focus during the presidential and congressional campaigns this fall, they told us. Congress provided some related funding in March via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (see 2003250046).