The Biden administration is moving forward on the national spectrum strategy, in some cases more quickly than is widely recognized, Shiva Goel, NTIA senior spectrum adviser, told the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas last week. Goel’s comments build on the remarks of NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson at MWC (see 2410090045). “We're hard at work already on lower 3 and 7 and 8 [GHz],” Goel said. “We're bringing lower 37 [GHz] to a close” and “18 GHz is in full swing already, and then there's everything else.” Goel said DOD, which is working with NTIA on the lower 3 GHz study, hasn’t been “secretive” about its “preference for a … solution” based on dynamic spectrum sharing. “We're supporting” DOD “in building a demo of that capability,” but “that doesn't mean we can't also collaborate on other options for the band.” The strategy’s research and development plan is in its final stages, he said. On staffing, “we're getting the agencies together to spot gaps and ways to fill them to make sure we have people in government able to do this work far into the future.” Goel continued: “Our spectrum problems aren't getting any easier.” The relationship between NTIA and the FCC “is as good as I've ever seen it,” said Ira Keltz, the commission’s new acting chief engineer. The No. 1 priority is the proposed spectrum pipeline and the FCC’s Spectrum Steering Team, which he co-chairs, is hard at work, Keltz said. “We've got plenty of staff at the commission completely engaged in all the activities that are going on.” The top priorities are the lower 3 and 7.8 GHz studies, but the FCC is also focused on 37 GHz, he said. “There's still a ways to go” on the strategy, said Will Johnson, Verizon senior vice president-federal regulatory and legal affairs, “but there [are] also things to celebrate.” The wireless industry knows it will need about 1,500 MHz of mid-band spectrum over the next 10 years, and the pipeline “still remains fairly uncertain,” Johnson said: “We know some bands that are being studied. … But in terms of knowing which bands are actually going to make their way all the way through to commercial use, to auction, we're pretty far from having that kind of clarity at this point.” Luciana Camargos, GSMA head of spectrum, called for more leadership from the U.S. During the World Radiocommunication Conference last year, the U.S. message was that it didn’t want international mobile telecommunications in the 6 GHz band, but it failed to offer alternatives, Camargos said. The U.S. “didn't even support the new agenda item” looking at 4, 7 and 15 GHz, she said: “To me, that's very relevant. … If you don't support looking forward, how can you lead on this?” Keltz said the FCC understands wireless industry concerns about a spectrum pipeline. "We need high-powered dedicated spectrum," he said: "I think we need a little of everything. ... We need to make sure that our unlicensed industry has spectrum they can use." CTIA and GSMA co-sponsor MWC.

FCC Commissioners Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks warned the Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas that the FCC’s loss of general spectrum auction authority last year is hampering U.S. competitive efforts against major rivals in the 6G race. CTIA President Meredith Baker sounded a similar theme at the beginning of the conference, which CTIA sponsors with GSMA (see 2410080044).

Sirius XM Radio opposed FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's proposal to allow the operation of very-low power (VLP) devices, without coordination, in the U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 portions of the 6 GHz band (see 2410040055). The company’s radio service in the satellite digital audio radio service band “cannot operate without reliable access to the 7.025-7.075 GHz band to uplink programming for delivery to tens of millions of listeners and to control its spacecraft,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. “SDARS is highly vulnerable to aggregate interference from the open-ended deployment of unlicensed devices operating outdoors,” Sirius XM said: “The Commission’s decision just four years ago to limit operations in the U-NII-8 band to indoor use correctly reflected that concern.”

AT&T on Wednesday called for major changes in how 3 GHz, including the citizens broadband radio service band, is configured, going beyond what the FCC proposed in an August NPRM (see 2408160031). Meanwhile, during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday, experts said the CBRS band has demonstrated the value and importance of spectrum sharing.

A representative of Apple, Broadcom and Meta Platforms spoke with aides to all the FCC commissioners except Anna Gomez on a proposal that the FCC extend rules for very-low power operations in the 6 GHz band across the U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 bands, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. The calls occurred before Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed that step last week (see 2410040055).

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated on Friday for a commissioner vote rules that would expand parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low power (VLP) devices can operate without coordination, beyond the initial 850 MHz commissioners approved last year (see 2310190054). When the FCC took comment earlier this year, Wi-Fi advocates and 6 GHz incumbents disagreed sharply on whether to expand VLP use of the band (see 2404290035).

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, who led U.S. preparation for last year’s World Radiocommunication Conference before she was confirmed to the FCC (see 2309120074), warned that the U.S. must prepare now for WRC-27. “Overall, we did very well, but it’s complicated,” Gomez said of WRC-23. “We succeeded in maintaining the 6 GHz band as the home for unlicensed innovation,” though other countries “also claimed victory because they received designations that allow them [to] use parts of the band” for international mobile telecommunications, she said. Gomez spoke Tuesday at the Americas Spectrum Management Conference. The U.S. also won on new allocations for satellite use of the 17 GHz band, she said. “Some countries were seeking to place new restrictions on the ability of countries to authorize satellite systems to provide commercial services in frequencies that have not been allocated internationally for satellite use,” she said: “That did not happen and that is a big win for the U.S. and innovation.” She also discussed the importance of the sharing model offered by the citizens broadband radio service band, developed through “intentional collaboration” between the FCC, the NTIA and DOD. “CBRS has demonstrated that shared spectrum schemes are not only possible but successful and can scale up to incorporate developments, protect incumbents, create more access and encourage new market entrants.” Gomez also stressed the importance of Congress restoring FCC auction authority. Currently, “our agency cannot begin the lengthy preparatory work to hold an auction” and “we are even limited in how we can use staff time for auction planning.” Gomez warned of a talent drain at the commission. “Bright, talented attorneys, economists, engineers and staff that have built years of expertise in spectrum auctions are having to pivot to other work,” she said. “The robust, expert team that we developed and grew in preparation for more auctions is slimming down.”

FCC commissioners on Thursday approved an order expanding the range of accessibility features that must be included in videoconferencing platforms (see 2409040053). In addition, multiple commissioners at the open meeting said allowing non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite service downlinks in the 17.2-17.8 GHz bandwidth should be a sizable boon to U.S. competitiveness in commercial space.

“Shoveling more spectrum” into the pool of available frequencies for unlicensed use won’t necessarily mean faster Wi-Fi speeds, Richard Bennett, High Tech Forum founder, said during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy webcast Wednesday. Bennett, who worked on the initial Wi-Fi standard, also questioned whether 6 GHz is taking off as a Wi-Fi band. It's expected he will lay out his arguments in a paper next week.

ATLANTA -- The cable industry faces potential workforce struggles in coming years due to employee demographics and federal broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) plan spending, CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney told us Tuesday at SCTE's 2024 TechExpo. At the same time, BEAD is helping generate interest within the construction industry, he said in an interview. Meanwhile, some spectrum experts at TechExpo urged a broad rethinking of how the U.S. approaches spectrum management (see 2409240045).