Safe Connections Act

Hundreds of commenters opposed a proposal from NextNav that would reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band and "enable a high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services (see 2404160043). Amateur radio operators weighed in early and often (see 2408120024). Joining them were many other groups whose members use the band. Comments were due Thursday in docket 24-240. NextNav on Friday defended its petition seeking a rulemaking.

NTIA will convene a virtual industry roundtable listening session on the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund on Sept. 26, a notice for Friday’s Federal Register said. The session starts at 10 a.m. EDT. NTIA said it’s seeking specific feedback on “ongoing barriers” to open radio access network adoption, “including for example, technology gaps and market challenges, among others, and opportunities to address such barriers,” expected use cases for “open and interoperable standards-based networks in public and private 5G networks” and “desired outcomes from industry, including relevant trials, deployment models, or proofs of concept.” The agency awarded its initial grants under the fund 13 months ago (see 2308080047).

The Congressional Research Service predicts the U.S. Supreme Court’s June Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ruling (see 2406280043) and “uncertainty about the scope of the FCC’s authority and ability to adopt regulations in the public interest” could prompt congressional legislation "to clarify the agency’s statutory authority.” Conversely, lawmakers could also maintain “the status quo and let ambiguities regarding the FCC’s rulemaking authority be resolved by the courts,” CRS said in a Wednesday report. “There are also questions on whether the FCC may alter its rulemaking efforts in response to Loper Bright, as well as how such alterations might affect interest in legislation.” The FCC’s July FCC order that lets schools and libraries obtain E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2407180024), April net neutrality rules and a 2023 digital discrimination order “illustrate the types of rules that might be challenged as exceeding FCC authority under Loper Bright or the major questions doctrine,” researchers said. Maurine and Matthew Molak petitioned the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week to review the E-rate Wi-Fi order (see 2408300027). The Molaks, whose 16-year-old son died by suicide after he was cyberbullied, say that ruling would give children and teenagers unsupervised social media access. Numerous FCC rules even before Loper Bright "were being contested by affected parties, including” the 5G Fund and next-generation 911 transition, “in both of which the FCC cites its public interest mandate,” CRS said. Researchers also noted the FCC’s 2022 notice of inquiry about ways to aid nascent in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing companies (see 2208050023) “has come under scrutiny from interested parties.”

Panelists clashed during a Federalist Society webinar Thursday over the future of the lower 3 GHz band, a top target of carriers for 5G and 6G. They also disagreed on some details of how federal bands should be studied for sharing or licensed use.

Jeff Blum, EchoStar executive vice president-government and external affairs, fired back at a SpaceX filing this week that called on the FCC to close a proceeding examining the lower 12 GHz band for fixed wireless use (see 2409040035). "The latest SpaceX study is an unserious and last-ditch effort by SpaceX to prevent unleashing 500 MHz of spectrum in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band for fixed 5G broadband services that can be used to help close the digital divide,” Blum said in an email. The filing “imagines phantom locations for SpaceX’s own customers, a phantom fixed 5G system that can either operate at full power or not operate at all (without being able to reduce power), and phantom physics (a fictional world where all 5G transmissions will hit all Starlink antennas right at their ‘boresight’).”

China is ahead of the U.S. on many fronts in its plans to emerge as the world leader in 5G, and eventually 6G, experts warned Wednesday during a webcast by the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub. The group released a paper urging that the U.S. reassert leadership in wireless technology.

Wireless carriers stressed the importance of spectrum to 6G in response to a May request for comment on the state of 6G development (see 2405230010). Comments were due Aug. 21. NTIA posted them this week. Some groups released their comments when they filed them (see 2408220043).

Congress appears unlikely to renew FCC auction authority this year, which makes prompt FCC action on approving fixed wireless use of the lower 12 GHz band even more important, former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in a new blog post. O'Rielly called inaction on FCC auction authority “especially vexing" given the importance of spectrum to U.S. competitiveness and enabling new technologies. “Having served as an FCC Commissioner, I understand the agency’s limited options to make more spectrum available absent Congressional action on auction authority,” O’Rielly said: “Despite this challenge, there is a prime opportunity before the Commission in the pending lower 12 GHz proceeding that would enable more efficient use of spectrum even while Congress works to restore auction authority.” The FCC “should not wait to act on … and should move to adopt final rules to authorize the use of high-power two-way, fixed wireless service in the band.” The 12 GHz for 5G Coalition continues pressing for FCC action on the band (see 2407030061).

The Rural Wireless Association expressed disappointment after the FCC released an order Thursday launching a multi-round reverse auction that will pay up to $9 billion to bring voice and 5G mobile broadband service to rural areas of the U.S. otherwise unlikely to see 5G deployments (see 2408290022). The Competitive Carriers Association also expressed concerns.

FCC Technological Advisory Council member Dale Hatfield raised concerns Thursday about whether the U.S. is on track to deliver reliable 5G networks within a timeframe and at a cost that reflects “the urgency and criticality” the situation. “Put another way,” he asked, what’s the “economic impact” of creating networks that are available 99.999% of the time? Hatfield said he took a deep dive into peer-reviewed and other “trusted literature” seeking answers, but came away empty-handed.