NTIA reiterated support for "modernizing and expanding access to the 70/80/90 GHz” bands, saying in a filing last week in FCC docket 20-13 that the commission can make changes "while protecting both the Earth Exploration Satellite Service (EESS) and federal fixed satellite service sites." The FCC sought additional comment on the spectrum in October, following receipt of an earlier letter from NTIA, which addressed Aeronet’s proposed use of frequencies at 71-76 and 81-86 GHz (see 2311080055). The recent letter was addressed to the chiefs of the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology.
House Commerce Committee member Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, will resign effective Jan. 21 to become Youngstown State University president, the college's board said Tuesday. A former House Communications Subcommittee member, Johnson previously said he wouldn't run for reelection (see 2311220053). Johnson was active on telehealth and spectrum policy issues, including as lead sponsor of the House-passed Advanced, Local Emergency Response Telecommunications Parity Act (HR-1353), which would require the FCC to allow satellite direct-to-cell service providers and others to apply to access spectrum to fill in wireless coverage gaps in unserved areas specifically to provide connectivity for emergency services (see 2304270001).
Industry and consumer groups urged the FCC to proceed with a proposal to take additional steps aimed at curbing abuse of the numbering access authorization process. Replies were posted through Tuesday in docket 20-67 (see 2311300067). In addition, some groups opposed the proceeding, calling it unnecessary and potentially burdensome for providers.
The FCC hasn’t provided much guidance in recent months about where it’s headed on final rules for the 4.9 GHz band, industry officials tracking the band told us. Nearly a year ago, commissioners approved 4-0 a long-awaited order and Further NPRM on the future of the band (see 2301180062), which reversed course from a plan approved during the Trump administration.
Provisions in the 2018 quadrennial review order could inject uncertainty into negotiations between broadcasters and networks, several broadcast attorneys told us. The order’s extension of the top-four prohibition allows networks to switch an affiliation from one station to another even if that would create a same-market duopoly but only as long as there isn’t “any undue direct or indirect influence from a broadcast entity.” Attorneys told us it isn’t clear what constitutes undue influence. The QR "creates more confusion," said Rob Folliard, Gray Television senior vice president-government relations and distribution. “You can’t have a transaction where there’s confusion.”
Krista Witanowski, ex-Meta, joins FCC as legal adviser-Office of Engineering and Technology.
Introducing a secondary nonfederal allocation in 7190-7235 MHz could render the band unusable for future nonfederal operations absent adequate protections, Lockheed Martin said in a filing posted Friday in docket 23-120. While a nonfederal upload space research service allocation for lunar communications needs is necessary, that allocation should be on a primary basis, it said. That would improve the odds that U.S. space licensees used the band, it added. If the 7190-7235 MHz band is not used for communicating with deep space missions, the FCC and NTIA should start thinking about what band would be used for such needs, it said.
SpaceX's acknowledging it didn't assess whether its supplemental coverage from space service in the 2 GHz band will interfere with Dish Network operations (see 2312120057) shows SpaceX's application runs counter to FCC rules, as such an assessment is required, Dish told the FCC Space Bureau in a letter Thursday. SpaceX could have conducted an interference analysis based on information available about Dish's operations but "did not, and that fact ends the charade," Dish said. SpaceX didn't comment Friday.
ClearCaptions told the FCC it launched an emergency alert system for its VoIP-enabled home phones. Released Nov. 29, the feature is "used by nearly a third of all ClearCaptions customers" and can receive Federal Emergency Management Agency weather-related emergency alerts, the IP captioned telephone service provider said in a letter posted Thursday in docket 03-123. "The importance of ensuring the safety of at-risk communities cannot be overstated," ClearCaptions said, adding that the change didn't affect its compliance with applicable minimum standards.
Carriers need additional spectrum and the FCC shouldn't allocate the 7190-7235 MHz band to the space research service or the 7190-7250 MHz band to the Earth exploration satellite service on a secondary basis for nonfederal use, Verizon said in comments on an NPRM about implementing World Radiocommunication Conference decisions from 2015 and 2019. CTIA offered a similar view (see 2311290040). The record also supports a proposal removing the broadcasting service allocation in the 698-758, 775-788 and 805-806 MHz bands “consistent with the Commission’s transition of the 700 MHz band from television broadcasting use to public safety and mobile broadband uses,” Verizon said in a filing Thursday in docket 23-121. “Data usage on Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network increased 249 percent between January 2021 and June 2022,” the carrier said: “Demand for wireless networks is only expected to increase, with some estimates suggesting that mobile data traffic could grow nearly four-fold by 2028. There is also increasing demand for fixed wireless access solutions, such as Verizon’s 5G Home Internet and LTE Home Internet services.”