Cooley’s Robert McDowell told us that he agrees with comments that the government is unlikely to make much spectrum available for full-power licensed use anytime soon, beyond the upper C band and limited AWS-3 licenses (see 2512260002). "The good news is that the FCC had its auction authority restored this year,” the former FCC commissioner said in an email last week. "The bad news is that carriers are going to have to wait a while longer. And once they wait, there is not a ton of spectrum to gobble up -- for years."

WISPA strongly opposed a November request by Brownsville, Texas, for an FCC waiver to operate a city network that uses the citizens broadband radio service band at higher power levels than allowed in agency rules (see 2511250015). NCTA has raised similar objections (see 2512020048).

SpaceX and EchoStar are pushing back on opposition to SpaceX's purchase of EchoStar's AWS-3, AWS-4 and AWS-H block licenses, arguing in filings posted Monday (docket 25-302) that no one has explained how the transaction hurts the public interest. The companies' comments were in response to various calls for conditions on the spectrum deal (see 2512160006).

AT&T is making progress toward satellite connections for its customers, said Robert Walters, its senior vice president of network planning, construction and engineering, in a blog post Monday. “Behind the scenes, we’ve been working relentlessly to push the boundaries of connectivity,” he wrote. “AST SpaceMobile successfully launched its first next-generation satellite, BlueBird 6, bringing us one step closer to making broadband satellite connectivity available to our customers.” AST SpaceMobile is planning to complete four more launches by March, “building out a robust constellation,” he added.

Sony Group advised caution on any additional rules in response to the further NPRM that the FCC approved in October to tighten its equipment authorization regulations (see 2510280024). The agency is seeking comment on whether to prohibit the authorization of equipment that contains “logic-bearing hardware, firmware, or software components manufactured by entities identified on the Covered List,” Sony said in a filing posted Monday in docket 21-232.

Representatives of radio altimeter manufacturers met with FCC staff earlier this month seeking clarity about submitting proprietary data on the safety devices into the public record in the upper C-band proceeding, said a filing posted Monday in docket 25-59. The companies previously met with staff from the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology (see 2512180040). Commissioners approved an NPRM on an upper C-band auction in November (see 2511200046).

The full FCC rejected Skywave Networks’ appeals of several Office of Engineering and Technology decisions on redacting confidential information from Freedom of Information Act requests, according to an order released Tuesday. Skywave had sought access to commercial information redacted from publicly available experimental license applications from RCA Telecom, M-Wave Networks, Alpha Bravo Communications, Skycast Services, County Information Services, Rockland Wireless and Toggle Communications. Skywave argued that the redacted information was necessary for it to evaluate the Shortwave Modernization Coalition's petition for rulemaking on using the 2-25 MHz band for fixed, long-distance, non-voice communications. OET ruled that there was no connection between the information sought by Skywave and the petition. “We affirm OET’s conclusion that the information redacted from these applications merits protection from disclosure,” the order said.

FirstLight Fiber told the FCC last week that it shouldn't approve EchoStar's spectrum license sales to SpaceX and AT&T without first getting EchoStar's Dish Wireless to pledge that it will fulfill its contractual obligations to tower and fiber vendors. In a docket 25-302 filing, FirstLight said Dish's claims to vendors that the spectrum sales were unforeseeable events outside its control are "laughable." EchoStar negotiated those spectrum sales in a way "that yielded it a considerable return on its investment." Letting Dish default on its contractual agreements would hurt the wireless infrastructure ecosystem, the FCC's spectrum assignment process and fiber deployments, FirstLight added. Wireless industry groups and other Dish suppliers have made similar arguments (see 2512160006).

The National Association for Amateur Radio (ARRL) met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez to ask for action on several proposals before the commission. They discussed “the need to modernize the amateur service rules (Part 97) to strengthen the basis and flexibility needed to foster experimentation with modern digital techniques and to advance skills in both communication and technical development,” said a filing last week in 25-133 and other dockets.

The Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 chipset market is growing rapidly, with projections showing a rise from $33.65 billion in 2024 to $40.50 billion by 2025 and an expected $149.65 billion by 2032, ResearchAndMarkets.com said last week. That reflects an annual growth rate of 20.50%, “primarily driven by organizations upgrading their wireless networks in response to rising digital application use and increasing data volume,” the report said.