New America's Calabrese Meets Knapp on 6 GHz Rules
Consumer and rural broadband advocates are seeking “two significant improvements to ensure that Wi-Fi and other unlicensed technologies can keep pace with consumer demand and make wireless connectivity robust and affordable for every home, business, school and library” as the…
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FCC addresses the 6 GHz band, Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, told Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology. Public interest groups are urging the commission to “authorize low power, indoor-only unlicensed use across the U-NII-5 and U-NII-7 band segments without the cost and complexity of AFC [automated frequency control] coordination,” Calabrese said in a docket 18-122 filing posted Friday. “The failure to set a power level at which Wi-Fi can operate indoors across the entire 6 GHz band, using off-the-shelf routers and low-cost devices, would sacrifice what is likely to be the greatest benefit of this rulemaking.” Public interest groups also want the FCC to adopt rules for outdoor, AFC-controlled fixed wireless deployments “harmonized with Part 15 rules allowing higher gain antennas in the 5 GHz bands currently in use for rural broadband, enabling higher [effective isotropic radiated power] operations that cover larger areas more affordably,” he said.