The U.S. is moving toward creation of a national spectrum strategy that would predict spectrum trends and allow companies to do a better job of planning, said DOD spectrum chief Fred Moorefield at the National Spectrum Management Association annual conference Tuesday. “I think you'll see that coming out of the White House soon." He noted the Pentagon will update its own spectrum road map and action plan.
The Satellite Industry Association said the FCC should protect satellite operations in spectrum above 95 GHz, in comments on the FCC’s spectrum horizons NPRM. Wireless and high-tech commenters see potential in the high-band spectrum (see 1805030037). “Given the substantial opportunities that would be available for [fixed service] in this initial 36 GHz of spectrum, no reason exists to adopt service rules or introduce FS in the 66.2 GHz of spectrum above 95 GHz that is shared between FS and either the fixed satellite service or the mobile satellite service,” SIA said in comments in docket 18-21. “FS operators clearly do not require access to these frequency resources and considerations for sharing this spectrum should be addressed at a later date.” The Millimeter Wave Coalition urged the FCC to address some technical issues that could impede use of the spectrum. The group wants safeguards to protect experimental licenses from being too easily canceled by the FCC: “While experimental licenses will no doubt remain ‘experimental’ without the expectations of regular FCC licenses, there should nevertheless be a procedural safeguard to protect experimental licensees who invest significant sums of money in developing technologies under an experimental license. The cancellation provisions … should only apply in cases of actual interference with some safeguards to allow appeal of interference determinations.” The coalition also said the FCC should extend RF safety limits above 100 GHz and provide “regulatory certainty” for industrial, scientific and medical equipment operating in the above-95 GHz band. The coalition cited as an example terahertz spectroscopy, which the FCC’s NPRM mentions as “a technology that is well-suited for the above-95 GHz frequencies given the shorter wavelengths and that has garnered interest for these frequencies.” The group warned “the lack of regulatory clarity in the United States has deterred companies from investing in this technology domestically.” Other commenters urged the FCC to open the bands for wireless. “The pressure on existing licensed mobile and unlicensed spectrum bands will continue to grow, and the bands identified in this docket can play an important role augmenting the spectrum used to support America’s wireless connectivity needs over the long term,” Qualcomm said. The Wi-Fi Alliance said the FCC mustn’t cut off unlicensed use of the spectrum. The FCC should make “few, if any” allocations now, the alliance said. “Any allocations it makes should allow the necessary flexibility to permit not only Wi-Fi and other existing unlicensed technologies, but also future not-yet envisioned unlicensed uses,” the alliance said. “Any rules adopted today should not inadvertently preclude future technologies.”
Policymakers should adopt a technologically neutral stance on blockchain innovation and ensure strong privacy protections, said a Software & Information Industry Association paper Wednesday. SIIA plans a Jan. 18 panel with the Congressional Blockchain Caucus.
Policymakers should adopt a technologically neutral stance on blockchain innovation and ensure strong privacy protections, said a Software & Information Industry Association paper Wednesday. SIIA plans a Jan. 18 panel with the Congressional Blockchain Caucus.
Policymakers should adopt a technologically neutral stance on blockchain innovation and ensure strong privacy protections, said a Software & Information Industry Association paper Wednesday. SIIA plans a Jan. 18 panel with the Congressional Blockchain Caucus.
The Commercial Smallsat Spectrum Management Association will focus foremost on spectrum, and CSSMA anticipates involving itself increasingly in an array of regulatory issues that affect smallsats. Some question whether it's on a trajectory to be in conflict with or redundant to the Satellite Industry Association. There could be conflicts and overlaps with SIA, but a bigger smallsat industry concern is startups moving forward to get into space without a good understanding of the licensing and regulatory compliance necessary, where CSSMA can play a role, said Christopher Stott, CEO of orbital frequencies and regulatory services company ManSat.
It's unclear how much demand there will be for the growing number space launch facilities that are being established in the U.S., driven in part by the expected low earth orbit (LEO) satellite boom. "I characterize the next decade as the Roaring '20s," with capital markets supporting numerous launch businesses, showing optimism launch demand will be big, said Southwest Research Institute Chairman-Commercial Spaceflight Federation Alan Stern. Within a decade, there might be a modest increase in the number of launches per year, "but not dramatic growth," the one exception being expected sizable growth suborbital space activity like commercial manned spaceflight, countered Bryce Space and Technology analyst Phil Smith.
The FCC move to ax the domestic geographic coverage requirement for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service systems, if it faces any opposition at all, might see resistance from Alaska interests. It's unclear how much sentiment there is among satellite operators for keeping the requirement, industry lawyers said. At least some operators argued in favor of maintaining the rule when another company sought a waiver of that requirement.
The FCC released details Friday on its proposed spectrum frontiers order, which makes another 1,700 MHz of high-frequency spectrum available for 5G in the 24 GHz and 47 GHz bands. The draft order in docket 14-177 says the FCC is making spectrum available for 5G, the IoT and other advanced spectrum-based services. But it also says the FCC is looking for a balanced spectrum policy. “In doing so, we help ensure continued American leadership in wireless broadband, which represents a critical component of economic growth, job creation, public safety, and global competitiveness,” the draft says.
The FCC released details Friday on its proposed spectrum frontiers order, which makes another 1,700 MHz of high-frequency spectrum available for 5G in the 24 GHz and 47 GHz bands. The draft order in docket 14-177 says the FCC is making spectrum available for 5G, the IoT and other advanced spectrum-based services. But it also says the FCC is looking for a balanced spectrum policy. “In doing so, we help ensure continued American leadership in wireless broadband, which represents a critical component of economic growth, job creation, public safety, and global competitiveness,” the draft says.