With Wi-Fi 6 Launching, Work on 6 GHz Band Before FCC Engineers
FCC work on 6 GHz has hit an apparent bottleneck at the Office of Engineering and Technology, which is working through the engineering analysis of potential threats to incumbent users by radio local access networks (RLAN), said industry officials on both sides. Sharing with Wi-Fi has broad support at the commission, but OET has lots on its plate so a final order could take time, officials said. Meanwhile, the first Wi-Fi 6 devices are hitting stores. The band is considered the most promising to provide broad channels for a new generation of Wi-Fi.
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Tech companies filed a study by RKF Engineering last year that unlicensed services can coexist with primary services in the 6 GHz band (see 1801260043). Incumbents argue Wi-Fi should be allowed only with automatic frequency control (AFC).
The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition (FWCC) filed an engineering study last week by consultant George Kizer. “All RLANs whether indoors or outdoors threaten [fixed service] interference unless under AFC control,” said the study, in docket 18-295.
Chris Szymanski, Broadcom director-government affairs, hopes for relatively quick action. The proceeding started with a “really comprehensive probability analysis report” by RKF, he told us, the first step in “showing that RLAN devices can coexist, and are complementary with, incumbent operations.” The U.S. studies are consistent with European studies that “also show that low-power indoor RLANs are expected to coexist with incumbent operations,” he said. Szymanski said he has logged many miles in travel to Europe this year and last to contribute to the comprehensive technical work there, where a harmonized regulation for 48 European countries is likely to be published in July.
Much outreach to the FCC has been to do a deep dive into the low probability of interference concerns, Szymanski said. “We’ve been sort of taking a microscope into those very areas [where] incumbents have raised concerns, demonstrating to the FCC that it’s not a core concern,” he said. “That’s the vast majority of our focus recently as it relates to filings.” Szymanski noted 75 percent of Broadcom’s employees are engineers,
“The RLAN proponents in all of their pleadings are making the case that a single RLAN in a typical location will not cause interference,” Mitchell Lazarus, counsel to the FWCC, told us. “They do not confront the fact that they’re planning to deploy almost a billion RLANs. The mathematics show that even if one RLAN is not likely to cause interference, 950 million of them, that’s their number, is virtually certain to.”
Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel advocate sharing the 6 GHz band. O’Rielly said in a recent interview the agency still has work to do and some utilities have been “very aggressive,” looking for protection beyond what they're entitled by licenses (see 1908210052). Most of the action now is at OET, industry officials said. The commission declined to comment Monday.
“Next-generation Wi-Fi is capable of providing gigabit-fast 5G capabilities to every household and business far sooner and more affordably than cellular 5G,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America: “If the FCC’s goal is to ensure that consumers, schools, retailers and other venues outside major city centers can share in the benefits of 5G-capable services everywhere, both indoors and on the go, the FCC will need to authorize unlicensed use of 6 GHz within the next six months so that Wi-Fi 6 chips can get into mobile devices along with cellular 5G chips.”
Tech Knowledge Director Fred Campbell predicted Chairman Ajit Pai will want to move forward. “Unlicensed spectrum has a role to play in the transition to 5G,” Campbell said: “The FCC has moved rapidly on increasing the amount of licensed spectrum for 5G, but has done little on the unlicensed side so far. The 6 GHz proceeding offers an ideal opportunity.”