The House is set to vote as soon as Tuesday night on a revised version of the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) under suspension of the rules, the office of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday night. The House Commerce Committee-cleared measure would elevate the NTIA administrator from assistant secretary to undersecretary of Commerce. It also proposes other steps aimed at improving coordination of federal spectrum (see 2307270063). Chamber leaders pulled HR-4510 from consideration in early March amid objections from leaders of the House Armed Services Committee over the fight between NTIA and DOD about allowing 5G use of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2403060062). In addition, the House will consider the Senate-passed FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-3935) amid questions about whether backers of additional funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program will attempt to attach money for those initiatives to it. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and other senators unsuccessfully sought an amendment aimed at including $6 billion for ACP and $3.08 billion for rip and replace in HR-3935 (see 2405100046).
Safe Connections Act
Dish Wireless spoke with FCC Wireline Bureau staff on the company’s amended petition seeking eligible telecom carrier status in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina and in the District of Columbia (see 404080037). “DISH clarified that it is a facilities-based wireless provider offering 5G voice and broadband services in markets throughout the country,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 09-917: “DISH has successfully tested this capability and is working toward launching at scale" and "as soon as possible ... will offer a combination of services (including Lifeline service) using its own facilities in portions of each state where the network is suitable and resale of its network partners to provide coverage in the remaining areas of the state.”
CTIA representatives updated the FCC about its stance on a proposed 5G Fund, now before commissioners (see 2403260052). An auction should occur only after funding is released for the broadband access, equity and deployment program, the CTIA representatives urged in meetings with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks, Nathan Simington and Anna Gomez. “The wireless industry is making record investments to deploy 5G nationwide, but there are some areas where difficult geography or sparse population mean that subsidies will be necessary to support mobile broadband,” a filing posted Monday in docket 20-32 said: “While the BEAD program will not directly fund mobile broadband deployment, it is likely to result in the deployment of fiber broadband backhaul facilities and fixed wireless services that will facilitate the expansion of 5G coverage in rural areas.” Representatives of AT&T, UScellular, Verizon and T-Mobile attended the meetings.
Non-stand-alone 5G networks tied to a core 4G network worked well in 5G's first phase, but they can’t handle network slicing and other things the new generation of wireless is promising, speakers said Monday during Fierce Network’s Cloud Native 5G Summit.
NCTA representatives discussed concerns about Samsung Electronics America’s request for a waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041), speaking with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Earlier, NCTA raised questions as well (see 2404090058). Samsung’s proposed radio threatens the utility of the CBRS band because of Samsung’s design choice not to use a filter between the C-Band and the CBRS band,” said a filing last week in docket 23-93. “The Commission could not justifiably grant Samsung’s waiver request without setting a precedent that future parties would rely on for other radios in these frequencies and many others,” NCTA said. Among those represented at the meeting were Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Enterprises.
Expect that fixed wireless access will continue winning broadband subscribers from cable operators in 2024, Chetan Sharma Consulting wrote last week in its Q1 mobile market update. FWA has "completely decimated" cable broadband net additions during the past two years, though mobile "is providing some respite" to cable giants, it said. The report noted cable's mobile sub base exceeded 15 million. Comcast and Charter Communications are the de facto top tier-two operators, it said. The U.S. wireless market has been slowly cooling from its 2021 historic high, with slower growth. Despite that, operators had another $50 billion service revenue in Q1, the report said. The revenue growth and net adds of the past five years, and especially since 5G's launch, have reversed trends of prior years, it said. "This is the best set of 3 years the industry has had in 16 years."
The FCC gave net neutrality supporters some of what they were looking for on 5G network slicing, one of the most contested issues before commissioners, providing further clarity (see 2404190038), a comparison of the order and a draft shows. The FCC posted the order late Tuesday. The commission approved it 3-2 at a contentious meeting last month.
NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson announced on Tuesday the agency is making available $420 million in funding to build radio equipment needed to spur open radio access networks in the U.S. and abroad, under Phase 2 of the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. Plans are to make the first grants in the fall, he said. Applications are due July 10. Davidson spoke during a Center for Strategic and International Studies event.
The expiration of FCC auction authority was a problem that could have been avoided, House Communications ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., said during CTIA’s 5G Summit Monday (see 2405060051). Congress should strike a deal now that restores auction authority, she said. “With a hamstrung FCC, we're going to be limited in what we can achieve,” Matsui said. “I don't think we can afford to wait any longer.” The U.S. is at a “crossroads,” Matsui said: “Networks are converging, consumer demand is skyrocketing, and global competition is heating up. In short, the stakes couldn't be higher.” The lapse of auction authority more than a year ago was “an avoidable failure,” she said. Matsui called for “a more nimble and predictable spectrum governance regime” and for flexibility from government and industry. “Vital federal missions cannot be jeopardized -- we all agree on that -- but uncompromising rigidity in defining the tools needed for those missions can result in federal paralysis,” she said. The government’s study of the lower 3 GHz band, the national spectrum strategy's requirement, must be “driven by engineering and science” and the Commerce Committee will make sure that happens, Matsui said. In addition, she stressed the importance of Congress funding an extension of the affordability connectivity program (see 2405020072). Despite all the money spent on deploying broadband, without "affordability we can't have the connectivity we need,” she said. For House Communications Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta, R-Ohio, the challenge of crafting legislation on 5G issues and the future of communications is avoiding anything that slows progress. “A lot of times when I talk to the industry, they're way past us,” Latta said. “The last thing we want to do is pass legislation where [we’re] looking in the rearview mirror,” he said. Latta said he keeps an open door and wants industry input. “You got ideas, suggestions, you've got problems, let us know what they are,” he said. Latta remains concerned about the broadband equity, access and deployment program and other spending initiatives. “The federal government should not be out there picking winners and losers,” he said. In addition, Latta is concerned about overbuilding current networks. He said fellow lawmakers find it difficult "to believe and understand that we have over 130 different broadband programs spread across 15 departments and agencies … administering billions of dollars.”
The Wireless ISP Association agreed with out-of-band emissions concerns that NCTA raised about Samsung Electronics America’s request for a waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see [Ref:2404090058). WISPA representatives spoke with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, a filing this week in docket 23-93 said. “We explained that WISPA does not oppose Samsung’s specific request for waiver insofar as it requests a higher OOBE from the CBRS band into a specific portion of C-Band,” WISPA said: “However, WISPA expressed concern that the waiver request could be misinterpreted to allow the CBRS side of the radio to use the less restrictive C-band OOBE limits.”