Commenters debated the need for more unlicensed versus licensed spectrum to promote the IoT, in comments posted Tuesday in response to an FCC notice of inquiry, in docket 21-353. Commissioners approved a broad NOI 4-0 last summer, looking at the broader spectrum needs of the IoT (see 2110010046). Multiple satellite operators offering or planning to offer IoT service argued against additional spectrum being allocated specifically for satellite IoT, instead saying there should be access to sufficient spectrum for satellite services overall.
The 3.45 GHz auction continued to rise to $16 billion Wednesday, after surpassing in the second round of the day the $14.77 billion reserve price needed to close (see our news bulletin here). Experts said which major bidders stayed in, and whether Dish Network or Verizon dropped out, won’t be clear until after it closes. “Contrary to our expectations, bidders moved back into a few more large markets, causing price growth to re-accelerate to 6-7% per round from the 5% it was growing at when bidding concluded yesterday evening,” New Street’s Phillip Burnett told investors Wednesday. Some 16 MHz of excess demand nationally still “must settle before the auction can close,” he said: “We would still expect price growth to decelerate materially once bidding in large markets settles (which is likely to happen today or tomorrow).” The auction could still reach New Street’s $25 billion forecast, but that seems unlikely, he said. Potential failure loomed after one large bidder appeared to drop out in round 10, blogged Sasha Javid, BitPath chief operating officer. Speculation has focused on both Dish and Verizon exiting, he said: “While speculation of which bidder dropped out … will continue until the final bidding data is released, this large drop in demand followed by a subsequent steep drop in Round 22, certainly made auction failure plausible. It was only demand in a few of the largest markets that pushed proceeds across the reserve price.” The FCC and carrier groups declined to comment.
The Wi-Fi Alliance released an automated frequency coordination compliance test plan Tuesday for the 6 GHz band. The FCC is seeking AFC proposals, due Nov. 30 (see 2109290040). “Wi-Fi Alliance development efforts on this innovative AFC system aim to ensure worldwide adoption, interoperability, security, and reliability expected of Wi-Fi,” the group said.
Getting “stability” and clear political leadership at the FCC tops Google’s regulatory wish list, Michael Purdy, senior counsel-commercial, product and policy, said during an FCBA wireless webinar Tuesday. “Hopefully, that will resolve by year-end.” The U.S. needs “some consistency in 5G policy,” he said. All the speakers said U.S. leadership on 5G must remain a top goal. The Biden administration hasn't named a permanent chair at the FCC or nominated Democrats to fill two commissioner slots.
Tech companies responded to a June Southern Co. report warning of the threat from low-power indoor unlicensed devices to electric utility operations in the 6 GHz band (see 2106240075). The companies said an August letter “attempting to rehabilitate its flawed test report. … not only failed to resolve the problems with the testing, but also doubled down on some of the … report’s most questionable aspects.” Southern’s testing shows why the FCC’s approach in the 6 GHz order “was correct, and in fact very conservative, for avoiding a significant risk of harmful interference to incumbent operations from low-power indoor operations,” tech companies said. The filing by Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google and other companies was posted Friday in docket 18-295. Southern didn’t comment.
The Open Technology Institute at New America encouraged the FCC to move quickly to allow automated frequency control in 6 GHz, in a call with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. “It would be a costly and unnecessary opportunity loss for consumers and the economy if the Commission takes several years to certify AFCs, as it [did] to certify the then-novel TV Bands Databases and Spectrum Access Systems,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. The group also expressed concerns on T-Mobile’s pending shuttering (see 2109210040) of its CDMA network.
AT&T urged the FCC to issue a “Knowledge Database document … well prior to the November deadline for submission” of 6 GHz automated frequency coordination proposals (see 2109300069), in a call with Office of Engineering and Technology staff. The document would identify “specific parameters within each of the propagation models mandated by the 6 GHz Order to be used by all AFC system operators,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. “Setting comprehensive AFC parameters now would be far more efficient from an administrative perspective and thus would speed the certification.”
Wi-Fi 6, now about 2 years old, should start getting wide adoption among ISPs starting by year's end, with it becoming relatively commonplace in households toward Q2, said Patrick Moreno, Zyxel Communications product marketing manager, during a webinar Thursday. He said many providers remain "in the discovery phase" about Wi-Fi 6. He said the latest generation of Wi-Fi has speeds 30% to 40% faster than Wi-Fi 5 and increased capacity for more connected devices, plus lower latency for time-sensitive applications. He said Wi-Fi 6 routers will be backward compatible for Wi-Fi 4 and 5. A variation -- Wi-Fi 6E, which came out earlier this year -- adds the 6 GHz band, which will help alleviate congestion in the crowded 2.4 GHz band and the starting-to-crowd 5 GHz band, Moreno said. He said 6E gateways and extenders are in development.
The FCC 3.45 GHz auction appears to be in some danger of not closing, which would mean a failed auction, though nothing will be certain for some time, experts said Thursday. The auction stood at $4.25 billion Thursday after the last of four rounds. It moves to five rounds Friday. A week in, the C-band auction had hit $10.5 billion on the way to an $81 billion record. The 3.45 GHz auction has to exceed a $14.77 billion reserve price to close.
The Biden administration is looking past 5G to 6G, said Evelyn Remaley, NTIA acting administrator, at the Americas Spectrum Management Conference Wednesday. She's “very optimistic” about opening the 3.1-3.45 GHz band for 5G and sees industry support for developing a national spectrum strategy. Others cited the importance of the C-band and issues that must be addressed after the record-setting auction.