Proponents urged the FCC to allow client-to-client operations in the 6 GHz band, and incumbents opposed the C2C change, in replies posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. This was consistent with initial comments (see 2102230056). “The record in this proceeding supports the need to make the band even more useful by facilitating the applications that client-to-client communications will support,” said the Wi-Fi Alliance. Many opponents seek "to re-litigate the Commission’s sound decision to permit unlicensed device access to the 6 GHz band,” the alliance said. C2C will become the standard worldwide, said Apple, Broadcom, Commscope, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm. “Peer-to-peer use cases like those that would be facilitated … are standard in other bands for many consumer electronic devices in the United States,” the companies said: “They include onboarding smart home equipment using smartphones, sharing streaming video from one device to another, and sharing files among users or devices quickly and efficiently.” Low-power indoor C2C would “improve the performance of current" uses and enable new ones, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance said. Comments “overwhelmingly oppose allowing client-to-client communications, and the proponents have failed to provide sufficient technical information to show that such operations would not cause harmful interference to licensed microwave systems,” said utility and public safety groups, led by APCO, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, Edison Electric Institute and Utilities Technology Council. C2C would “significantly increase the interference potential to licensed microwave systems,” they said. CTIA urged caution, noting that, working with Southern Co., it did some of the only 6 GHz interference testing. Results “provide prima facie evidence that even devices operating in compliance with the existing rules will cause harmful interference to incumbent users,” the group said. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said the proposal poses a risk to vehicle-to-everything uses of the band and could also affect the 5.9 GHz band.
Commissioner Nathan Simington advocated Wednesday for a light regulatory touch for broadcast regulation, despite not having a model for it, as a way the FCC can help tackle the business woes facing local journalism. "The wolf is now at the door" for stations, and the commission "can get out of the way" as they try to find new sustainable business models when faced with advertising dollar competition from tech giants like Google, he said at a Media Institute talk. He said diversity of ownership is important, but there won't be such diversity "in a world of collapse." Concerns about consolidation can be misguided, as modern broadcast group owners look to maximize the value of individual stations, "not turn each ... into a mouthpiece," Simington said: They seem to see strong local journalism as an asset and aren't prone to acquiring an outlet "only to gut it and make it a clone," because that would be against the group's business interests. "I want finality" from the Supreme Court in its awaited Prometheus decision, he said. Then, the FCC likely will be "eager to take up" the 2018 quadrennial review, Simington said. He said there needs to be a discussion about media ownership reflecting that some parties the agency had hoped to see invest are opting to put their money elsewhere. He said "sensible, slimmed-down regulation" will promote investment in the broadcast industry. Asked about politics at the FCC, Simington said the agency so far in his tenure has "engaged in .... strongly bipartisan and thoroughly reasoned policy. I’m very happy with the spirit of compromise ... among current leadership," and he expects it will continue once there's a 3-2 Democratic majority. A spokesperson for acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel emailed she "values collaborating with her colleagues in support of carrying out the mission of the FCC and appreciates the unique perspective they each bring to the agency.” Simington called President Joe Biden administration's infrastructure plan, with its 5G and broadband components, "very ambitious," and some aspects are worth study. He's concerned about any infrastructure plan that determines where infrastructure should be allocated. He said a 100/100 Mbps standard for broadband makes sense in much of the country but also flies in the face of digital divide issues such as markets that have never been able to attract a provider and urban areas where infrastructure isn't the chief problem.
The record is “insufficient” to justify changing 6 GHz rules to allow client-to-client communications, NAB said in replies posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment in January (see 2101110031). Make changes after the FCC and industry have “real-world experiences with unlicensed operations in the 6 GHz band,” NAB said. Southern Co. called for a revamped process for testing interference from 6 GHz devices to band incumbents, in a call with an aide to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Southern remains very concerned about the potential for harmful interference to licensed 6 GHz systems,” the utility said.
Wireless and satellite interests have very different opinions about docket 20-330 on geostationary orbit (GSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) downlinks in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band on a co-primary basis with incumbent services, based on replies posted through Friday. Initial comments also showed a split (see 2103040041). Due to concerns in the record about coexistence between GSO FSS downlink and terrestrial FS allocated in 17.7-17.8 GHz, there should be operational requirements for GSO FSS downlinks that protect incumbent fixed service from interference, Nokia said. AT&T said backers of a GSO FSS allocation haven't proved their claims that GSO FSS downlinks are indistinguishable from incumbent 17/24 GHz broadcast satellite service (BSS) downlinks. It said the FCC should defer consideration of new allocations until there's sufficient technical analysis to show GSO FSS downlinks can safely share with incumbent users of the 17 GHz band. If GSO FSS can share with incumbents, the FCC should ensure minimum orbital spacing and power flux density limits to protect incumbents and limit GSO FSS downlink earth stations to individually licensed gateways, AT&T said. Viasat said the comments show allowing GSO FSS downlinks would mean more efficient use of the band, and FCC-proposed technical rules would protect incumbent operations. SES, Hughes, Telesat, Intelsat, Eutelsat, Lockheed Martin and Thales said giving BSS uses priority over FSS uses would leave FSS operations unprotected if a BSS operator implements network changes that interfere with an established FCC facility, disincentivizing FSS use of the 17 GHz band. Amazon's call for a Further NPRM to consider allowing non-geostationary orbit networks to use the 17 GHz band got support from SES, Telesat (see here) and OneWeb (see here). AT&T opposed the FNPRM absent technical and feasibility studies showing a baseline capability to share with incumbents. CTIA said allowing NGSO and earth station in motion operations into the band "present[s] even more complicated challenges to coexistence with terrestrial services than GSO FSS operations and should be rejected."
Reinstate net neutrality "as a matter of urgency," tech companies led by Mozilla asked the FCC, the company said Friday. ADT, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Reddit, Vimeo and Wikimedia signed. "We support the efforts of the FCC to act upon its mandate and reinstate these fundamental user rights," they said.
A federal judge declined to force San Francisco to issue permits for T-Mobile infrastructure but barred the city from “imposing penalties or in any way preventing T-Mobile from proceeding with installations” for applications deemed granted because the city didn’t act in 60 days. In a Friday order (in a Pacer), Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco partly granted the carrier’s motions for summary judgment and preliminary injunction. Illston disagreed with the city that the Spectrum Act violates the 10th Amendment’s anti-commandeering doctrine saying Congress may regulate only individuals. T-Mobile wanted the court to force San Francisco to issue a permit for deemed-granted applications, but Illston disagreed the law requires governments to do anything more than accept a carrier’s deemed-granted notice and not interfere with installations. "The FCC Spectrum Act only prohibits State or local governments from denying qualifying applications,” said Illston, citing a 2015 decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Montgomery County, Maryland v. FCC. T-Mobile and the city didn’t comment now.
The FCC notice of inquiry on open radio access networks got changes in version approved 4-0 last week, versus the draft, starting in the section on increased competition and network vendor diversity, based our comparison. Officials say questions were added on adoption and other issues (see 2103170049). “We seek comment on whether and how the current market structure in the traditional RAN sector may impact or affect the deployment and adoption of Open RAN solutions,” the final version said: “How many options are available to carriers in selecting equipment manufacturers? How interoperable is this RAN equipment, if at all, with other hardware and software? Is this equipment or software proprietary? What restrictions, if any, do equipment manufacturers place on wireless carriers’ equipment choices or options?” The NOI now asks about “the effects of competition in the industry, and would transitioning to Open RAN resolve, ameliorate, or worsen these issues?” The final notice probes vertical supply chain relationships in the networking equipment market and “the potential effects of current market conditions on the demand for and deployment of Open RAN solutions.” Commenters are asked to “identify barriers to entry or market conditions that may affect or impede the deployment and adoption of Open RAN solutions now or in the future.” The NOI raises additional adoption issues: “If the benefits of Open RAN can only be realized by economies of scale, should the Commission provide funding or incentives to operators that choose to implement such systems in their wireless networks?”
A big change in the FCC 3.45 GHz auction public notice from the draft was dividing the spectrum into 10 MHz licenses, rather than 20 MHz, based on a side-by-side comparison. That means the agency will offer 4,060 new flexible-use licenses in October, twice the proposed. The order addresses complaints about the two-step emissions mask. “Some commenters have suggested that the two-step … limit we adopt here could present challenges for licensees,” the order said: “The Commission will continue to engage with NTIA and other Federal partners, as well as other stakeholders, on whether there are opportunities to relax this approach while still providing sufficient protection to incumbent users.” It's “specific to the 3.45 GHz band and we take no position on whether the two-step limit adopted here will be required to protect incumbent users in any future proceedings,” it said. The FCC stuck with deadlines of April 14 for comments, April 29 for replies. The order puts increased emphasis on opportunistic use of the spectrum, similar to what’s available in the citizens broadband radio service band: “There may be potential opportunities in the future to consider steps we might take, in cooperation with NTIA and other federal partners, to effect an overall rationalization of the non-federal services in the 3 GHz band.” Both were posted Thursday (see here and here) after being approved 4-0 Wednesday (see 2103170061).
The FCC gave Emprata a contract worth up to $1.5 million to provide "custom computer programming services" as the commission builds new broadband data availability maps, records show (see 2103110050). Emprata already received $399,495 for providing "data architecture and design support services."
FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated her proposal for the second round of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, said the commission Wednesday. The $250 million program would establish a system for rating applications, factoring in the hardest-hit and lowest-income areas, and ensure "equitable nationwide distribution of funding." The proposal sets an application deadline instead of a rolling approval system and awards funding in two phases. "If the past year has shown us anything, it’s that telehealth technology is here to stay and can be a solution to help address inequities in access to health care services," Rosenworcel said.