AT&T on Wednesday called for major changes in how 3 GHz, including the citizens broadband radio service band, is configured, going beyond what the FCC proposed in an August NPRM (see 2408160031). Meanwhile, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday, experts said the CBRS band has demonstrated the value and importance of spectrum sharing.
Critics of aspects of SpaceX's direct-to-device service continue pressing the FCC. In a docket 23-135 filing Tuesday, AT&T said it supports prompt approval of SpaceX secondary supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service that meets FCC power limits, but opposes the elective power boost that would increase its throughput at the expense of AT&T's primary incumbent terrestrial PCS C-block network. "Secondary service cannot degrade primary service, especially a primary service with the myriad established public interest benefits of terrestrial mobile," AT&T said. An AT&T analysis of how the elective power boost would affect its Tucson, Arizona, PCS C-block network predicts "a devastating" 18% degradation in average downlink throughput due to SpaceX's elective power increase, and in some areas on the network's edge coverage might be out altogether. Verizon challenged T-Mobile's throughput calculations that back granting a waiver of FCC out-of-bound emissions (OOBE) limits (see 2408230013), saying they weren't applicable to SCS service. Omnispace said the 1990-1995 MHz block is allocated for mobile satellite service uplink use both in the U.S. and internationally, and SpaceX has yet to meaningfully address concerns about it using that band for downlinks. It said SpaceX's rebuttal "is more ad hominem than rigorous." The FCC's aggregate OOBE limits in its Part 25 rules don't need relaxing for SCS service, AST SpaceMobile CEO Abel Avellan told Commissioners Geoffrey Starks, Anna Gomez and Nathan Simington, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-32. Avellan said AST and numerous mobile network operators (MNO) believe that OOBE levels need to be maintained to protect incumbents' use of spectrum. He said AST will meet aggregate OOBE limits in low- and mid-band spectrum. AST said it has agreements and understandings with more than 45 MNOs with roughly 2.8 billion subscribers. It said its SCS service has a 120 Mbps peak data rate.
Broadband deployment continues in a timely manner and adoption rates are rising, ISPs said in comments about the FCC's annual Section 706 report on the state of competition in the broadband marketplace (see 2409060058). In addition, some urged that the commission refrain from including metrics on pricing and adoption rates in its final analysis. Others said the FCC should refine the broadband data collection (BDC) process and national broadband map.
The boom in programming from diverse sources available on numerous outlets underscores that most-favored nation (MFN) and alternative distribution method (ADM) clauses haven't blocked the growth of multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) alternatives, according to cable interests. In a meeting with FCC Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer (docket 24-115), cablers defended ADMs and MFNs and said the agency shouldn't imbalance programmer/MVPD negotiations by stopping MVPDs from seeking the same pricing and terms programmers offer to others. Meeting with the Media Bureau were representatives of NCTA, Charter, Comcast and Cox Communications.
The Arizona Corporation Commission should pull back regulations on Frontier Communications while eliminating Arizona Universal Service Fund (AUSF) subsidies for the wireline carrier, Frontier and commission staff argued at a livestreamed hearing Monday. Meanwhile in Connecticut, Frontier pushed back against a proposed $2.48 million fine for missing certain state service-quality metrics.
Altice is asking a U.S. District Court in Texas to reconsider a U.S. Magistrate Judge's decision not to move litigation against Altice to a federal court in New York. In a docket 2:23-cv-00576 objection last week, Altice told the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas that the Magistrate Judge erred in finding that the balance of factors weigh against transferring the 2023 suit from record labels and music publishers alleging contributory copyright infringement (see 2312080050). The Magistrate Judge should have ended the court's analysis by recognizing that the bulk of relevant witnesses are in New York, and that moving proceedings to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York would be most convenient to them, Altice said.
While expectations are that 6G will be commercialized by 2030, large scale deployments will likely come later, Milap Majmundar, AT&T director-advanced radio access network technology, standards and spectrum, said Tuesday at RCR Wireless’ 6G Forum. In addition, other speakers warned that finding new licensed bands for 6G could prove difficult.
The FCC has congressional authorization to collect Form 395-B data and didn’t violate broadcasters' constitutional rights in issuing its equal employment opportunity order, the agency said in a brief filed Friday in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief responds to challenges against the EEO order brought by the National Religious Broadcasters, the American Family Association and the Texas Association of Broadcasters. “The mere fact that a regulation takes account of race or sex does not make it suspect,” said the FCC. Adding a nonbinary option to gender choices on the form is a “minor change in terminology” for “a category of information that the Form 395-B already collected in 1992,” and thus is well within the agency’s authority, the FCC said. “Nothing about the collection or disclosure of Form 395-B data interferes with a broadcaster’s ability to communicate its own message or suggests the broadcaster agrees with the FCC’s views.” The agency said it “has a legitimate public interest” in collecting workforce diversity data “to facilitate analysis and reporting on broadcast industry workforce trends.”
FCC announcements: Wireless Bureau’s Jeffrey Tignor moves to Office of Communication and Business Opportunities as acting director and Commissioner Anna Gomez hires Cierra Nokes as executive assistant; also, Frederick Giroux, Enforcement Bureau; Thomas Horan, Media Bureau; Kathleen Campbell, Space Bureau; and Ron Repasi, Office of Engineering and Tech, are retiring … FCC announces winners of agency awards: Robert Pavlak and Kamran Etemad for Excellence in Engineering and Steven Kauffman, Jeffrey Ocker, Alexander Simmons and Paul LaFontaine for Excellence in Economic Analysis … Squirro SaaS platform for generative AI appoints Growth Analytics’ Gary Kearns as board chairman.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should lift a district court injunction against Texas’ social media law and remand the case to assess the tech industry’s First Amendment challenge at a more granular level, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) argued Wednesday (docket 21-51178).