A CTIA executive on Wednesday criticized DOD’s work so far on the potential clearing of parts of the lower 3 GHz band. “We need more spectrum to meet commercial demand” and the federal government holds the most spectrum, said CTIA Senior Vice President-Spectrum Umair Javed during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar on Wednesday. Other panelists praised the Biden administration for releasing a national spectrum strategy (see 2403120006). The strategy includes a co-led NTIA and DOD study of the lower 3 GHz band.
In launching its Space Bureau last year, the FCC "worked hard to invite new entrants" into space, and that approach has seen some success, agency Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in prepared remarks during a Satellite Industry Association event Monday night. An example of that success was Intuitive Machines' lunar lander mission last month, with it being a first-time licensee receiving the FCC's first-ever lunar license, she said. Rosenworcel said the commission "will do everything in its power to make sure the United States continues to set the pace in space -- both for our economy and our national security." Also at the SIA event, ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin said the satellite industry "has a critical role to play" in closing the globe's digital divides and said the ITU "is here to support you as you take up this challenge." According to provided remarks, she said sustaining "the shared space environment — particularly the radio-frequency spectrum — has to be a top priority as we continue to push the limits of space innovation." In addition, she said the ITU is encouraging the satellite community to voluntarily share de-orbiting strategies and plans "to build awareness for safe physical coexistence in orbit."
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation urged the FCC to act on a 2021 5G Automotive Association petition (see 2106030075), asking the agency in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 19-138 to reduce by 20 dB the permitted level of unwanted emissions from the unlicensed services that share the 5.9 GHz band.
The FCC Wireless Bureau granted waivers of the 2.5 GHz tribal application window for five licenses sought by the Ho-Chunk Nation. “Our decision here is limited to the suitability of these specific trust, Tribally-owned fee, and allotment lands, excluding urban areas, to be licensed under the Tribal Window,” said a Tuesday order: “We make no determination as to the status … with respect to other Commission rules or programs, nor for any other purpose.” Bureau staff must still process the applications for the licenses. The window to apply closed in September 2020 (see 2007310066).
Etherstack urged the FCC to give FirstNet control of the 4.9 GHz band, noting that it’s well suited for 5G (see 2401190067). Part of the wider 4.4–5.0 GHz band was identified for international mobile telecommunications in several countries, and all of it is included in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project standard for 5G technologies, the software company said in a Monday filing in docket 07-100. 5G networks are deployed in the band in Japan, China and Hong Kong and private 5G in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, Etherstack said. “There are plans/consultations for the use of this spectrum band in a range of countries including Brazil, India, Indonesia and Vietnam,” the company said: “Importantly, Australia has also recently designated the 4.9 GHz band as a public safety band which can be used for cellular technology.”
Free Press representatives told FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel the organization supports the position of Barbara van Schewick, director of Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, and others on how net neutrality rules should treat slicing and other new services (see 2403130057). Several suggestions in the recent filing are “consistent with the Commission’s 2015 Open Internet Order,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-320. The group views a request “that the Commission clarify that ISPs cannot evade Net Neutrality rules and offer fast lanes as ‘5G’ specialized services to applications that can be supported without them -- as an application” of 2015 principles “to new technology,” Free Press said.
New America's Open Technology Institute told the FCC that interconnection and internet traffic exchange remains a "live issue" during meetings with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. The group suggested that the commission "at a minimum adopt a presumption that paid peering agreements are unreasonable and/or discriminatory practices in violation of Sections 201 and 202 if the exchanged traffic is sufficiently localized by the exchanging party." OTI also asked the FCC to restore its 2010 rule on transparency, noting its distinction from the commission's consumer broadband labels. The transparency rule's purpose is "to provide a broader set of stakeholders with a more comprehensive view" of providers' networks and practices, the group said.
The FCC’s Technological Advisory Council held its first meeting under its new charter, with a focus on wireless technology. As such, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told TAC members they should help change Washington's negative tone when it discusses AI. The new TAC's efforts are just starting under three working groups: advanced spectrum sharing, AI/machine learning (ML) and 6G.
The FCC disagrees with the motion of 20 industry petitioners for expedited briefing and oral argument of their consolidated challenges to the commission’s Nov. 20 digital discrimination order, according to the agency’s opposition brief Tuesday (docket 24-1179) in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Faced with an increasingly antagonistic developing world, the commercial satellite industry must do a better job selling itself and its benefits, NTIA senior spectrum advisor Scott Blake Harris said Tuesday during Access Intelligence’s Satellite 2024 conference in Washington. Regions that feel left out by the low earth orbit satellite boom expressed hostility toward LEO issues during the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference, he said. Throughout the day, multiple satellite operators and space industry experts mentioned the developing world as a large potential target market, particularly for satellite broadband. Harris said he’s concerned that the ITU and regulatory processes could delay existing satellite systems and development of new ones. Between now and WRC-27, the satellite industry must convince the developing world “it has something to offer."