FCC Chairman Ajit Pai hopes dig once to lay fiber conduits "becomes the law of the land," suggesting it's critical to increasing backhaul capacity to support 5G wireless. He said low-earth-orbit satellite constellations promise to expand rural broadband and lower latency. "Satellite innovation is really coming along well," he told a Geeks Without Frontiers conference Tuesday. The difficult broadband business case in high-cost areas is worsened by unnecessary rules, he said, vowing to continue deregulatory remedies: "We've made a lot of progress. There's still a ways to go." He said the Connect America Fund Phase II reverse auction saved $3.5 billion, allocating $1.5 billion in broadband subsidies over 10 years for connecting over 700,000 locations estimated to need $5 billion. He plugged FCC "technological neutrality" letting wireless providers, electric utilities and Viasat be among new CAF recipients competing to serve rural customers. Pai highlighted other efforts to push broadband, including plans to auction 5 GHz of commercial spectrum over the next 18 months, and opening the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi use. The FCC is looking at unlicensed opportunities from low-band spectrum to the 95 GHz band, he said. Pai said there are "exciting times to come" in broadband-enabled "vertical" applications like teleheath, and IoT and artificial intelligence have potential upsides for healthcare.

The FCC's focus is on granting the legions of C-band earth station registrations received in its six-month-plus application window. What kind of time frame that might entail is a big question. Satellite and broadcast interests urge any 3.7-4.2 GHz earth station operators who didn't register to do so. July's NPRM on terrestrial use in the C-band (see 1807120037) included an order directing incumbent fixed satellite service earth station operators to certify the accuracy of existing International Bureau filing system (IBFS) information and to provide more information. It's not clear when that PN might be issued, said satellite lawyer Michelle McClure of Fletcher Heald.

Revised rules for public land mobile radio use of the 800 MHz band that were approved in October on circulation (see 1810220050) take effect Dec. 27, says an FCC notice for Tuesday's Federal Register.

Express shippers are troubled by a footnote that suggests the U.S. could lower its de minimis rate for NAFTA partners (see 1811060010) and ask that it be removed, said Michael Mullen, executive director of the Express Association of America, during a Nov. 15 U.S. International Trade Commission hearing. Mullen also said the fact that the taxes and duties levels are separate means the $40 Canadian and $50 for Mexico will be the operative de minimis amounts. That Canadian level "is among the lowest in the world," Mullen said, adding that Mexico already offers simplified duties and taxes above $50 and $117, so the administration needs to make sure the pact does not make things worse.

GAO called for the FCC to improve outreach to tribal governments to improve those entities' access to spectrum. Wednesday's report, sought by members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, was released more than a month after the committee criticized what's seen as deficiencies in FCC practices for determining broadband coverage on tribal lands (see 1810030055). The FCC “has taken steps to promote and support tribal access to spectrum,” including via 2011 and 2018 rulemakings that included tribal input, GAO said: But the commission “has not finalized these rules and is in the process of responding to comments to the 2018 rulemaking,” an NPRM looking at the future of the 2.5 GHz educational broadband service band (see 1809100045). “While FCC has made additional spectrum available for broadband use in recent years, tribal stakeholders cited limitations with the spectrum FCC has made available,” the report said. The FCC should “collect data on the extent that tribal entities are obtaining and accessing spectrum and use this information” as the agency “implements ongoing spectrum initiatives,” GAO said. "Analyze data to better understand the extent that unused spectrum licenses exist over tribal lands.” GAO called for the FCC to “make information on spectrum-license holders more accessible and easy to understand for interested parties, including tribal entities, to promote their ability to purchase or lease spectrum licenses.” The FCC said it plans to follow the recommendations, by considering “ways to collect data on the extent that tribal entities are obtaining and accessing spectrum, including updating application forms to provide for voluntary submission of this information.”

GAO called for the FCC to improve outreach to tribal governments to improve those entities' access to spectrum. Wednesday's report, sought by members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, was released more than a month after the committee criticized what's seen as deficiencies in FCC practices for determining broadband coverage on tribal lands (see 1810030055). The FCC “has taken steps to promote and support tribal access to spectrum,” including via 2011 and 2018 rulemakings that included tribal input, GAO said: But the commission “has not finalized these rules and is in the process of responding to comments to the 2018 rulemaking,” an NPRM looking at the future of the 2.5 GHz educational broadband service band (see 1809100045). “While FCC has made additional spectrum available for broadband use in recent years, tribal stakeholders cited limitations with the spectrum FCC has made available,” the report said. The FCC should “collect data on the extent that tribal entities are obtaining and accessing spectrum and use this information” as the agency “implements ongoing spectrum initiatives,” GAO said. "Analyze data to better understand the extent that unused spectrum licenses exist over tribal lands.” GAO called for the FCC to “make information on spectrum-license holders more accessible and easy to understand for interested parties, including tribal entities, to promote their ability to purchase or lease spectrum licenses.” The FCC said it plans to follow the recommendations, by considering “ways to collect data on the extent that tribal entities are obtaining and accessing spectrum, including updating application forms to provide for voluntary submission of this information.”

Amazon will get $1.5 billion from New York State and $550 million from Virginia in “performance-based direct incentives” over the next decade to split its second headquarters between Long Island City, Queens, and Crystal City, Virginia, said Amazon Tuesday. The incentives will reach full potential when Amazon fulfills its agreement to hire 25,000 employees at each location with an average salary of more than $150,000, it said. Crystal City’s high-skilled workforce and easy access to Washington make it “the perfect match for Amazon's mission and goals,” said CTA Chief Financial Officer Glenda MacMullin, who chairs the Crystal City Business Improvement District. CTA “has been one of the few building owners” there for the past 12 years, she said. Amazon in Queens will occupy an 8 million-square-foot "campus" on Long Island City's waterfront, said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) at a Tuesday news conference. "In many ways, this is a perfect location, and there's a lot happening in Queens." The site is "proximate" to LaGuardia and JFK airports, which are undergoing reconstruction, and will be near a 10-minute water taxi to Manhattan, said Cuomo. Amazon's "initial buildout" will be at the Citibank building at 1 Court Square, next to three existing subway lines, said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D).

Amazon will get $1.5 billion from New York State and $550 million from Virginia in “performance-based direct incentives” over the next decade to split its second headquarters between Long Island City, Queens, and Crystal City, Virginia, said Amazon Tuesday. The incentives will reach full potential when Amazon fulfills its agreement to hire 25,000 employees at each location with an average salary of more than $150,000, it said. Crystal City’s high-skilled workforce and easy access to Washington make it “the perfect match for Amazon's mission and goals,” said CTA Chief Financial Officer Glenda MacMullin, who chairs the Crystal City Business Improvement District. CTA “has been one of the few building owners” there for the past 12 years, she said. Amazon in Queens will occupy an 8 million-square-foot "campus" on Long Island City's waterfront, said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) at a Tuesday news conference. "In many ways, this is a perfect location, and there's a lot happening in Queens." The site is "proximate" to LaGuardia and JFK airports, which are undergoing reconstruction, and will be near a 10-minute water taxi to Manhattan, said Cuomo. Amazon's "initial buildout" will be at the Citibank building at 1 Court Square, next to three existing subway lines, said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D).

Nanosys landed a U.S. patent Tuesday for methods of fashioning a quantum-dot-based color conversion layer in display devices, Patent and Trademark Office records show. QDs “have the unique ability to emit light at a single spectral peak with narrow line width, creating highly saturated colors,” said the patent (No. 10,128,417), which names a team of nine Nanosys inventors, including CEO Jason Hartlove. “It is possible to tune the emission wavelength based on the size of the QDs.” This enables display engineers to custom-design “a spectrum of light to maximize both the efficiency and color performance of the display,” it said. “The size-dependent properties of QDs are used to produce a QD film,” which then may be used as a color down-conversion layer in display devices, it said. Doing so in emissive displays “can improve the system efficiency by down-converting white light to a more reddish light, greenish light, or both before the light passes through a color filter,” reducing the loss of “light energy,” it said. Nanosys didn’t comment on the invention’s commercial implications.

Amazon will get $1.5 billion from New York State and $550 million from Virginia in “performance-based direct incentives” over the next decade to split its second headquarters between Long Island City, Queens, and Crystal City, Virginia, said Amazon Tuesday. The incentives will reach full potential when Amazon fulfills its agreement to hire 25,000 employees at each location with an average salary of more than $150,000, it said. Crystal City’s high-skilled workforce and easy access to Washington make it “the perfect match for Amazon's mission and goals,” said CTA Chief Financial Officer Glenda MacMullin, who chairs the Crystal City Business Improvement District. CTA “has been one of the few building owners” there for the past 12 years, she said. Amazon in Queens will occupy an 8 million-square-foot "campus" on Long Island City's waterfront, said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) at a Tuesday news conference. "In many ways, this is a perfect location, and there's a lot happening in Queens." The site is "proximate" to LaGuardia and JFK airports, which are undergoing reconstruction, and will be near a 10-minute water taxi to Manhattan, said Cuomo. Amazon's "initial buildout" will be at the Citibank building at 1 Court Square, next to three existing subway lines, said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D).