Monica Alleven

Verizon’s TracFone Wireless subsidiary reached a settlement with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Enforcement Bureau to resolve an investigation into whether the company violated the agency’s Lifeline and Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program rules.  According to the FCC, TracFone’s internal systems: 1) improperly considered a subscriber’s receipt of an inbound text message to constitute qualifying Lifeline usage and 2) improperly claimed support for a group of customers who were enrolled jointly in both the Lifeline and EBB programs, but did not use one of the services in

The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI) wants to keep the 4.9 Gigahertz (GHz) spectrum under the control of public safety and critical infrastructure industry users and out of the hands of FirstNet, whose 700 Megahertz network is run by AT&T. T-Mobile, Verizon and UScellular are among the founding members of the CERCI, along with the Competitive Carriers Association, National Sheriffs Association, Major Cities Chiefs Association, and Edison Electric Institute.

US District Judge Thomas Durkin in Chicago ruled  a lawsuit filed by customers of AT&T and Verizon over T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint may proceed because the plaintiffs “plausibly” argued that higher prices “flowed directly” from the $26 billion merger. The proposed class action was filed in 2022 and seeks a range of penalties, including undoing the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile. The class-action suit was filed by seven AT&T and Verizon subscribers on behalf of millions of customers who were affected.

T-Mobile is now the carrier with the largest number of prepaid customers, surpassing Verizon. Based on its Q3 2023 earnings reports, T-Mobile had 21,595,000 customers and Verizon had 21,420,000. Wave7 Research flagged the change in a report distributed to subscribers. Before the third quarter, Verizon was the biggest US prepaid carrier, but that title was relatively new. The operator bought TracFone Wireless from América Móvil in 2021, instantly giving it more than 20 million prepaid customers, but it’s been steadily losing customers ever since. 

Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan said he’s encouraged by the White House’s request to Congress to fill the $3 billion gap in the Federal Communications Commission’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, aka “Rip and Replace.” But it’s critical that the funding gets allocated ASAP, he added. Of course, when legislation actually clears both the House and Senate is anyone’s guess. The Senate Appropriations Committee has a hearing scheduled on Oct 31 to review the administration’s national security supplemental request.

Dish Network defended its request for more time to buy 800 MHz spectrum from T-Mobile, telling a Washington (DC) court that it boils down to the final judgment the court approved in 2020. Dish originally was supposed to exercise its option to purchase the spectrum by June 30, 2023, but received an extension.

T-Mobile told a Washington (DC) court not to grant Dish Network’s request for more time to purchase T-Mobile-s 800 MHz spectrum, essentially saying a deal’s a deal and other potential buyers are in the wings. Dish asked the US District Court for the District of Columbia to give it 10 more months to get the financing together to buy T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum for about $3.6 billion. Dish cited the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and other macroeconomic conditions that led to substantial inflation and rising interest rates since a Final Judgment was issued in April 2020.

Dish Network isn’t the only entity eyeing T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum. Someone else who’s intimately affiliated with the spectrum is showing an interest, and it’s not one of the big wireless carriers. Burns & McDonnell (B&M), a large engineering and consulting firm, is seeking permission to participate in the court proceeding where Dish is asking for more time to buy T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum licenses, according to a research note by New Street Research (NSR). Dish filed for an extension with the US District Court for the District of Columbia earlier in August, 2023.

In 2022, a study commissioned by CTIA basically called Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) a failure, in part due to its low power levels and limited use cases. Some saw it as a smear campaign against CBRS because CTIA would prefer the 3.1-3.45 GHz band to be licensed rather than end up looking more like CBRS, which involves a three-tiered sharing system to protect Department of Defense (DoD) incumbents. Federated Wireless 

Network restoration crews employed by wireless operators are accustomed to responding to emergencies caused by hurricanes, but the wildfires that devastated western Maui (HI) are a completely different animal. “We’re working around the clock.