The scope of the digital divide exposed during COVID-19 is "an inflection point for action, and we need to seize it," FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said during a Brookings Institution webinar Wednesday. She applauded the ISPs that have taken the Keep Americans Connected pledge but said Americans shouldn't have to rely on industry generosity for internet access: "Having digital justice means getting everyone connected."
AT&T said proponents of uncontrolled devices in the 6 GHz band “bear the burden of proving that the introduction of such uses would not cause harmful interference to incumbent licensed operations.” AT&T representatives spoke with FCC Office of General Counsel staff, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. “Not only have … proponents failed to meet their burden of proving the absence of harmful interference, the occurrence of harmful interference would be a statistical certainty,” AT&T said. Commissioners vote April 23 (see 2004060062).
CTIA questioned part of a draft 6 GHz order slated for an April 23 vote (see 2004020066) allowing sharing of the entire band by low-power devices indoors, in a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295. “There is no reasonable basis to conclude” such use “will comply with the fundamental tenet of FCC unlicensed policy -- namely, that unlicensed operations are unequivocally barred from causing harmful interference to authorized stations like 6 GHz fixed service licensees,” CTIA said: There are almost 100,000 U.S. FS links.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Monday the agency will move as quickly as it can to allow outdoor use of the 6 GHz band by very low-power devices. Pai told incumbents the FCC has fully vetted their concerns, speaking on a webinar hosted by New America’s New Technology Institute and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. Pai circulated the draft last week for a vote at the April 23 commissioners’ meeting (see 2004020066).
The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council asked the FCC to act on a proposal to open the 6 GHz band for sharing with Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use (see 2004020066). “The COVID-19 pandemic has shined a harsh light on the impact that disparity in access has on lower-income and minority groups who are on the wrong side of the digital divide,” the group said in a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. “The perils of those on the wrong side of the digital divide can no longer be ignored.” The FCC is focused on protecting incumbents as it opens the band, Chairman Ajit Pai told Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “The Commission's technical experts in our Office of Engineering and Technology have spent considerable time reviewing the substantial record that has been compiled in this proceeding and meeting with interested stakeholders,” Pai said in a letter posted Friday. Commissioners vote April 23 on opening the band to Wi-Fi. Tech companies reported on calls with aides to the commissioners, except Pai. Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Microsoft discussed “the importance of authorizing unlicensed use … for standard-power, low-power indoor, and very-low-power devices, at power levels that will successfully enable key use cases and applications.”
The COVID-19 epidemic is clouding the timeline for the Senate to act on Commissioner Mike O’Rielly’s renomination to a second full FCC term. He nonetheless stands a good chance of confirmation, communications sector officials and lobbyists told us last week. President Donald Trump renominated O’Rielly in March to a term ending in 2024 (see 2003180070). O’Rielly’s current term ended in June. He would have to leave in January absent a Senate vote.
The FCC will allow indoor operations over the full 1,200 megahertz of 6 GHz, without automated frequency control and at power levels lower than what the cable industry and others sought, said a draft order released Thursday. As expected, the FCC will regulate indoor use on a power-spectral density (PSD) basis (see 2004010065). The draft proposed these devices be limited to 5 dBm/MHz radiated PSD, lower than the 8 dBm/MHz sought by cable and others (see 2003260049). Industry officials said that means less throughput for devices using the wide channels. The draft proposes higher limits for outdoor devices using AFC.
Updated orbital debris rules for satellite operators and possibly expanding video description requirements to other markets will be among the topics on April 23's FCC agenda, Chairman Ajit Pai blogged Wednesday. The items are expected to be released Thursday. Pai will also seek a vote on Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band and on a 5G Fund for Rural America (see 2004010065).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday he will seek a vote at the April 23 commissioners' meeting on opening the 6 GHz band to sharing with Wi-Fi unlicensed (see [Ref2004010053]). Some consider it a capstone to his legacy. A few key details remain unclear. More will be revealed Thursday when the draft is released.
Automated frequency coordination and “other interference mitigation safeguards are vital” to protecting utilities if the FCC allows sharing in 6 GHz with unlicensed devices, Edison Electric Institute officials told Nick Degani, an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai. “Members require strenuous protections against harmful interference to microwave communications systems in the band,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. Zebra and NFL officials spoke with Pai about the use of Zebra technology for player and ball tracking, and potential impact of proposed rules. Broadcom representatives told an Office of Engineering and Technology staffer it seeks rules that don’t “inadvertently restrict common home-networking configurations by applying client-device power restrictions to devices that comply with the indoor-only restrictions we have proposed for low-power indoor access points.”