The National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF) and the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council are concerned about an FCC proposal that expands parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low power (VLP) devices can operate (see 2310190054). Comments were posted on Wednesday in docket 18-295. The FCC has “recognized the public interest need to protect important radio astronomy and remote sensing observations at 6 GHz” and shouldn’t “undercut the protections already enacted in this proceeding,” CORF said. The 6650-6675.2 MHz band is important “for observations of methanol that play a critical role in research into star formation, astrochemistry, and precision astrometry,” the committee said. Frequencies between 6425 and 7250 MHz are used for passive microwave measurements, with 6425-7075 for ocean remote sensing, CORF said: “Observations at these frequencies are an essential component for both weather prediction and observing climate change.” NPSTC counseled against further liberalizing the rules for the 6 GHz band. “Public safety, critical infrastructure, commercial wireless and broadcast entities rely on this spectrum to support licensed microwave links for their respective operations,” the group said. It's clear from decisions made so far that the commission “has no intention of reversing course in this proceeding,” NPSTC said. If that’s the case “it is imperative that 6 GHz licensees have a viable mechanism to report and expeditiously resolve any 6 GHz harmful interference to critical microwave links that occurs.” The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) said studies show that unlicensed wideband VLP devices can operate at 14 dBm with a power spectral density of 1 dBm/MHz “without causing harmful interference into incumbent services, and that narrowband VLP devices will provide even greater margin.” The SIG has made a push for Bluetooth devices to be allowed to use 6 GHz spectrum (see [Ref2310270027]). “Bluetooth is an essential unlicensed technology that requires additional spectrum to support the volume growth of existing product categories and to support the technological expansion of important Bluetooth products,” the SIG said. The Wireless Innovation Forum told the FCC it’s “eager” to “support the development of geofencing systems,” one of the FCC’s proposals for protecting 6 GHz incumbents. The group said it could develop “specifications for data systems including any needed enhancements” and work on “propagation models to accommodate possible VLP mobility” and addressing “mobility in spectrum availability determinations.”

Those urging the FCC to update its approach to net neutrality rules to address issues concerning emerging services like network slicing spoke with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, as they make the rounds at the agency (see 2403250018). “Clarify when providing a different type of service to applications evades the Open Internet protections,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-320. The advocates said the rules should apply unless “the particular type of application requires a specific level of quality of service, which is objectively necessary for the specific type of application,” which “cannot be met over a well-provisioned broadband Internet access service in compliance with the Open Internet protections.”

Choice Broadband and provider Tarana launched a fixed wireless broadband network in Tohatchi, New Mexico, a Wednesday news release said. Navajo Tribal Utility Authority is majority owner of Choice Broadband. “This is the first of many upgraded networks that will equip residents and businesses of Navajo Nation, the largest indigenous tribe in the United States, with reliable, high-speed internet,” the release said. In Tohatchi, “rocky terrain and significant distances between homes make trenching fiber for broadband access extremely costly.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau on Tuesday approved a waiver for Vertical Bridge, finding that use of a self-diagnostic monitoring system from Drake Services obviates the need for the company to make quarterly inspections of its more than 9,000 towers. The bureau also said it would offer expedited review of waiver requests from other tower companies using the technology. It “is similar to that exhibited by other monitoring systems that we have previously found to be sufficiently robust to support waivers based on the efficacy of their system and backup procedures,” the bureau said: “Our actions today should encourage other tower owners to invest in state-of-the-art technologies so that they, too, will become capable of continuous monitoring of both their lighting systems and control devices.”

The Information Technology Industry Council called on the FCC to expand parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low power (VLP) devices can operate beyond the 850 MHz of the band in which commissioners voted last year to allow operations (see 2310190054). Comments are due Wednesday on a Further NPRM that the commissioners also approved last year. “The Commission’s decision to authorize VLP operations provides innovators with an important new capability to provide very high-speed connections for some of the most advanced applications, such as augmented and virtual reality, that will help businesses, enhance learning opportunities, advance healthcare opportunities, and bring new entertainment experiences,” the group said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295.

The Edison Electric Institute and other groups representing incumbent users of the 6 GHz band asked the FCC to delegate the Wireless Innovation Forum or another inter-industry body to develop “standardized implementations” for automated frequency coordination system propagation models. The groups said they appreciate “that the AFCs are collaborating to develop a single interference reporting process rather than each developing its own -- or not having a defined process at all.” But collaboration shouldn’t mean just AFCs, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-352: “It should include representatives of the incumbents whose systems are entitled to interference protection under FCC rules.” Also signing the filing were the Enterprise Wireless Alliance, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the Utilities Technology Council.

Public interest groups and two academics spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff about their request that the agency update its approach to net neutrality rules to address issues concerning new services like network slicing (see 2403130057). “We asked the Commission to clarify: how technologies such as network slicing may be used to provide innovative offers as part of [broadband Internet access service] that are consistent with the open Internet rules, and under what conditions non-BIAS data services may be provided,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 23-320. The Open Technology Institute at New America made the filing, joined by Public Knowledge; Barbara van Schewick, director of Stanford Law School’s Center for attended and Society; and Scott Jordan, computer science professor at the University of California, Irvine.

Ericsson debuted Ericsson Federal Technologies Group, targeting 5G-driven “digital transformation” across U.S. government agencies. “5G communications technology is vital to U.S. national and economic security and a key component of U.S. defense modernization programs,” Ericsson said last week. The company said the new group will build on work it is already doing for DOD and other agencies. Christopher Ling, who previously worked at Booz Allen Hamilton as leader of the firm’s U.S. national security business, will head the new Ericsson group, the company said. Ericsson said it meets U.S. requirements, including support for open radio access network-ready technologies and “Made in the USA” gear.

Representatives of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff about the agency’s November proposal allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2311090028). Also attending were officials from Colorado's Boulder Valley School District (BVSD). The district found a series of hot spots during the COVID-19 pandemic was difficult to administer and didn’t provide the connection students needed, said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-31. It next worked with a small local wireless ISP, LiveWire Networks, to build a network. “As of today, LiveWire operates a tower on almost every building across the BVSD,” SHLB said: More than 300 "… students are enrolled in the program. LiveWire operates and manages the network and performs installation and other services directly at the home.” Given the success of school-enabled networks like the Colorado district’s, “SHLB encourages the FCC to apply a broad, tech-neutral definition of ‘hotspots’ so that alternative types of network devices (like fixed wireless access points and subscriber modules) are eligible for E-rate funding,” the filing said. Last week, SHLB made similar points featuring a program at the East Moline (Ilinois) School District 37 (see 2403220030).

CTIA expressed concerns about cybersecurity rules in the proposed 5G Fund (see 2403200071) and Alternative Connect America Cost Model rules. In a filing posted Monday in docket 22-329, CTIA said its concerns extend “insofar as these rules and proposals are not harmonized with other federal approaches, such as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, and go beyond a requirement to align cybersecurity risk management plans” with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s cybersecurity framework (CSF) version 2.0. The CSF “is the best vehicle through which to facilitate robust cybersecurity programs: it is well understood by industry and critical infrastructure organizations, it is flexible, and it is future-proof,” CTIA said: “It includes informative references to a range of ‘standards, guidelines, and practices’ to achieve the outcomes laid out in its Functions and their associated Categories and Subcategories, while recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all approach that is appropriate for cybersecurity risk management in an area as dynamic as cybersecurity.” In addition, the CSF has “international reach and understanding, which is important in an increasingly global cybersecurity environment,” the group said.