6 GHz Notice Expected to Get 4-0 Vote; Tweaks Expected
An FCC NPRM on allocating the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use is expected to get unanimous approval by commissioners Tuesday, industry and agency officials said. The NPRM is being tweaked, with a look at revising proposals on indoor use, automatic frequency coordination (AFC) and harmonizing the band, officials said. There was a flurry of filings heading into release of the sunshine agenda Wednesday in docket 18-295.
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Former officials said the NPRM should examine every conceivable issue. “The time for arguments -- pro or con -- comes later,” said a former spectrum official.
The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance “strongly” supports “greater and more intensive use of the 6 GHz band and we are excited that the FCC is moving forward with this rulemaking,” DSA President Kalpak Gude told us. “Sharing of the band starts with protection of incumbent services. Everyone benefits when we can do that using the most efficient and cost-effective means possible. AFC, like all other technology or techniques to enable sharing, should be used when it is demonstrated as necessary to protect incumbent services, not as a belt and suspenders approach that results in merely raising costs for unlicensed deployments.” DSA believes the NPRM “will clarify what techniques are necessary in which portions of the band, and we are confident that the FCC will create rules that both protect incumbents and maximize the opportunity for unlicensed deployments in the 6 GHz band,” Gude said.
The Wi-Fi Alliance has raised questions about the need for AFC when devices are indoors (see 1810150033). “There are many reasons that low power unlicensed devices restricted to indoor-only use are unlikely to cause harmful interference to fixed service stations,” the group said. “Those unlicensed devices are most likely to be operated at or near ground level -- removed from the main beam of microwave transmissions, or in high-rise structures where structural steel, concrete and treated windows absorb most of radiofrequency energy outside the building.”
The Wireless ISP Association asked for an even-handed approach in the NPRM, in a filing posted Wednesday. “Because WISPA members currently use licensed 6 GHz links and are also interested in accessing additional spectrum for outdoor use to relieve congestion in the nearby 5 GHz band, WISPA seeks a balanced approach that protects incumbents and enables shared use for new deployments,” the group said.
Others are seeking changes, too. T-Mobile asked the FCC keep in mind industry also needs licensed spectrum. “If the Commission designates the entire 5925-7125 MHz band for unlicensed operations -- over 1 gigahertz of spectrum -- it must take alternative action to designate mid-band spectrum for licensed wireless mobile broadband. ... It should make as much of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band available for that purpose.”
Ericsson officials met with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai and others at the agency on the importance of licensed spectrum. “Ericsson is a firm supporter of unlicensed use of spectrum and produces many products like carrier-grade Wi-Fi and License Assisted Access,” Ericsson commented. “The mobile industry also requires large blocks of licensed spectrum to support 5G -- particularly in mid-bands.”
NAB told aides to all four commissioners the NPRM includes spectrum widely used by broadcasters, it said. Confining unlicensed use to indoors doesn’t “address the potential for interference to broadcast operations that may take place indoors" like at events, NAB said. “Use for newsgathering operations, including temporary fixed links, tends to have high ‘RF visibility’ because these links travel over long distances.”
Sirius XM raised similar concerns about protection for the 7025-7075 MHz band, “the sole feeder link spectrum that it is licensed to use -- and that its satellites are designed to use” to provide satellite digital audio radio service. Sirius XM urged the FCC “retain the significant measures included in the Draft NPRM designed to reduce interference risks from unlicensed devices in this band segment and to consider additional options for ensuring that any authorized unlicensed operations do not disrupt Sirius XM.”
Citizens Against Government Waste asked the FCC to include a look at the 5.9 GHz band now set aside for dedicated short-range communications (see 1810160061). “Certain segments of the automotive industry continue to apply pressure to preserve the 1999 allocation of spectrum for DSRC, even though it took 18 years for the first vehicle using DSRC to become available,” the group said.