Further 6 GHz Rule Change Could Wait for Next FCC Chair

FCC officials said they don't know when the agency will do more. Pai has kept commissioners and their staff busy with various items like the Communications Act Section 706 report (see 2012160051).

Wi-Fi advocates hope for a vote early in the new year. “I don’t see why under a Democratic majority the FCC would start to slow play the 6 GHz band despite outstanding interference resolution issues and recent device testing,” said Enterprise Wireless Alliance President Mark Crosby. “There is a significant amount of momentum.”

Commissioners approved new 6 GHz rules and the Further NPRM 5-0 in April (see 2004230059). Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, an advocate of sharing in the band, was replaced last week by Nathan Simington. Pai departs Jan. 20. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (D) is expected to be named at least interim chair and would control when a vote happens.

The FCC was at one point expected to act in December on changes proposed in an FNPRM, including allowing very low power use of the band outdoors, without automated frequency coordination. “The proponents for very low power unlicensed devices have made a compelling case for allowing such use,” said the FNPRM: “These devices can usher in new ways that Americans work, play, and live by enabling applications that can provide large quantities of information in near real-time.”

“NAB has significant concerns that additional changes to the 6 GHz rules will only further undermine broadcasters’ ability to cover breaking news and live events,” a spokesperson emailed: “Given the conflicting technical studies in the record, further action is premature.”

“We expect that completing and strengthening the rules for unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band will be a bipartisan priority,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. “The pandemic has demonstrated how essential it is to boost the capacity and quality of Wi-Fi in a way that ensures routers are affordable and covers the typical home and small business, as they do today,” he said: “The rest of the world is rapidly adopting a new category of very low power devices first proposed by the FCC.”

Alex Roytblat, Wi-Fi Alliance vice president-regulatory affairs, is optimistic the FCC will act. “With ample technical evidence and with other countries moving rapidly to enable ubiquitous Wi-Fi connectivity, there is no reason to hold back on the U.S. technological leadership and innovation,” he said.

The rules face a court challenge (see 2007080057). In a pleading posted Friday, AT&T, the Edison Electric Institute, NAB and others told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit it should overturn the April rules. “Petitioners do not oppose the deployment of new unlicensed devices in the 6 GHz band under appropriate conditions,” they said (in Pacer), in docket 20-1190. But the FCC failed “to adopt certain necessary safeguards against potentially life-threatening radiofrequency interference with their operations,” they said: The commission didn’t “conclude that the requested safeguards would be infeasible or costly. ... The FCC simply asserted that there is no significant risk of such interference even without the requested safeguards.”

Lobbying continues. Verizon spoke with Office of Engineering and Technology officials on a technical report urging the FCC to allow use of unlicensed 5G devices at 42 dBm in the band, with AFC. Increased power levels are needed “to support 5G with wider bandwidths and provide enhanced outdoor coverage,” the carrier said in a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295: Without “the value of unlicensed 5G using 6 GHz is severely limited, due to very poor outdoor coverage and corresponding higher operating costs.”