With Announcement Possible Soon on 6 GHz Order, Lobbying Intensifies

vote at the April 23 commissioners’ meeting. AT&T said the FCC shouldn’t approve unlicensed use of the entire band, absent automated frequency coordination (AFC). “Even if the probability of harmful interference for each individual unlicensed device were low, the overall impact would still be enormous due to the very high number of potentially interfering devices (nearly a billion) and the crucial nature of the components of the Nation’s infrastructure that rely on those licensed uses,” AT&T said. "Absent AFC protections, interference from these devices could not be stopped, nor could so many devices be retrieved once released into the wild.” Sony Electronics said the FCC shouldn’t require AFC in an RF environment that contains both “managed” and “unmanaged” access points. It's "difficult for an AFC system to identify the precise source of any harmful interference in a scenario where both managed and unmanaged access points operate on the same frequency channel,” Sony said. Model rules on those for the 5.15-5.25 GHz band, which “accommodate both outdoor and indoor operation, while imposing additional requirements on outdoor deployments to protect licensed services,” Sony said. Tech companies said power levels for very-low-power (VLP) devices are critical. “A Commission decision to establish a maximum power level of less than 14 dBm for a 160-megahertz channel would render VLP devices unreliable based on our examination of body loss and battery drain in typical usage scenarios,” said Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm. Broadcom, Cisco, HPE, Intel, Qualcomm and Ruckus Networks separately commented on power levels to protect the 5.9 GHz band. “The Commission should adopt its proposal to limit emissions from fixed 6 GHz ... devices below 5925 MHz and above 7125 MHz to -27 dBm/MHz, provided that compliance is verified using the same assumptions as those included in this record,” they said. “The -27 dBm/MHz average emissions limit for fixed devices will protect licensed operations in the bands immediately below and above the 6 GHz unlicensed band.” Verizon told Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr the FCC should consider licensing part of the band, as urged by CTIA.