Less Government asked to be taken off a Friday letter to the FCC supporting an NPRM to allow sharing in the 6 GHz band with Wi-Fi and other unlicensed uses (see 2002140052), said a Tuesday filing in docket 18-295. Seton Motley, president of Less Government, “indicated he signed the letter in error and has removed his name from the list of supporters/signatories,” the filing said.

The Center for Individual Freedom, Taxpayers Protection Alliance and eight other free-market groups wrote the FCC Friday in support of the NPRM to allow sharing the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed uses (see 1810230038). The proposal “would enable massive technological innovation by designating a highly underutilized portion of radio spectrum for wider and more efficient use,” the groups said in a letter to Chairman Ajit Pai. Utilities and some others are “claiming that shared use of the spectrum will lead to harmful interference, and are conjuring up extreme hypothetical examples,” but “there are too many benefits to opening up this valuable spectrum to take these extreme warnings at face value.” Also signing were Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, Discovery Institute, Innovation Defense Foundation, Innovation Economy Institute, Institute for Liberty, Institute for Policy Innovation, Less Government and the Market Institute. “More unlicensed spectrum for next-generation Wi-Fi would deliver faster speeds … and be a bridge to the next generation” of IoT, augmented reality and virtual reality devices for consumers, the groups said. It “can help break down digital divides.” Though “some incumbent users of the 6 GHz spectrum paint a bleak and fearsome picture of sharing this spectrum, technology already successfully in use can enable coexistence,” the groups said. Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., supported the NPRM last week, as did tech companies (see 2002120055). The Wireless ISP Association opposed CTIA’s continued push for the FCC to allocate the band's upper part for exclusive-use licenses (see 2002100039). CTIA “is attempting to resurrect study of licensed spectrum in this band well after the Commission has made clear that the exclusive focus of this proceeding is to enable unlicensed services,” said WISPA Vice President-Policy Louis Peraertz in its filing to docket 18-295. CTIA “ignores the benefit to rural Americans of use of this spectrum for point-to-point backhaul and Internet connectivity, and waves away the significant practical difficulty of clearing extensive incumbent fixed point-to-point microwave use. ... It provides no specifics as to where operations would be located, or even any general assessment of the impact on incumbents." CTIA didn't comment.

Broadcom announced what it's calling the industry's first Wi-Fi 6E client device ahead of FCC-expected allocation of some of the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi. The BCM4389, targeted at flagship smartphones, will deliver over 2 Gbps of real-world speeds and up to five times better battery life, said the company Thursday. The chipset is said to improve audio performance and range for connected Bluetooth accessories. The BCM4389 uses a tri-band simultaneous connectivity architecture, adding to Wi-Fi and MIMO Bluetooth radios a third ultra-low-power independent radio to optimize Wi-Fi and Bluetooth performance. Broadcom expects phones with the chipset to communicate with home routers, residential gateways, enterprise access points, and augmented- and virtual-reality devices.

CEO Borje Ekholm and other Ericsson executives told FCC members of both parties that "more mid-band spectrum is necessary," and backed some of the FCC's C-band moves. The draft C-band order "acknowledges the importance of large bandwidths to support 5G," the company said, posted Thursday in docket 18-122, on meetings a week earlier with Chairman Ajit Pai (here) and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (here) and their aides: "100 MHz channels are essential to deliver a high-performance experience." Licensed mid-band spectrum in the upper 6 GHz band "is a priority for Ericsson," which doesn't "see a shift to unlicensed spectrum as 5G is rolled out given the performance demands seen for industrial use cases." The company would like 100 MHz-wide channels, including in the C band, emailed the filing's author, Vice President-Government Affairs and Public Policy Jared Carlson. On why the disclosure was late, he said that "the filing just took a little longer than expected." Commissioners vote Feb. 28 on the C-band order (see 2002110041). Regulatory action on 6 GHz is expected later this year (see 2002120055).

Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., urged the FCC Wednesday to act on allowing sharing of the 6 GHz band for unlicensed Wi-Fi use. Top tech-sector companies -- including Amazon, Facebook and Google -- also jointly urged the FCC to designate 1,200 MHz of spectrum on the band for unlicensed use. The companies cautioned against allocating the band's upper part for exclusive-use licenses, as CTIA and others have proposed (see 1902190005). Ericsson lobbied lawmakers last year to file and pass legislation that would require the FCC to adopt such a plan (see 1910090051). The FCC should make the 6 GHz available for unlicensed use “in a way that protects incumbent users operating in the band from harmful interference,” McNerney and Griffith wrote Chairman Ajit Pai. “The 6 GHz band’s greatest potential would be realized by unlocking all 1200 MHz of the band for unlicensed use -- this would foster innovation and greatly benefit American consumers and our nation’s economy.” Licensing “a portion of this band would undermine, not support, our next-generation wireless future,” Amazon and others wrote Pai, posted Wednesday. “Opening the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use is also the fastest way to get additional spectrum suitable for next-generation wireless into the hands of American consumers. In contrast, relocating 6 GHz incumbents to a federal band that has not yet been studied for sharing and then proceeding to auction ... will take years and significantly disrupt incumbents.” The group of pro-sharing entities also includes the American Library Association, Benton Foundation, Boingo, Broadcom, Charter Communications, Cisco, Comcast, HP, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, NCTA, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and the Wi-Fi Alliance. Boeing separately supported unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band above a 10,000-foot altitude, saying interference with other aircraft systems “would be negligible.” No “reason exists to prohibit the operation of unlicensed 6 GHz devices on aircraft or to require such devices to employ” automated frequency coordination technologies, the manufacturer filed in docket 18-295.

With 24 nations globally doing midband auctions to support 5G deployments, the U.S. needs to look beyond the C-band and citizens broadband radio service auctions to other means of freeing up midband for 5G, CTIA President Meredith Baker told FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel, according to docket 18-122 ex parte postings (see here and here) Monday. The steps should include issuing a further notice on licensing the upper portion of the 6 GHz band and a notice proposing to remove existing nonfederal allocations in the 3300-3550 MHz band, it said.

Tech and utilities interests continue to lock horns over Wi-Fi operations in the 6 GHz band. Utilities in a docket 18-295 ex parte posting Monday said their analysis of potential of harmful interference to their microwave links in the band (see 2001140057) is "based on conservative and realistic assumptions and inputs." CableLabs said otherwise (see 2002040066). The utilities in the filing -- Edison Electric Institute, the American Gas Association, the American Public Power Association, the American Water Works Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Nuclear Energy Institute and the Utilities Technology Council -- defended the study's methodology and calculations. But Apple, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel Microsoft, NXP Semiconductors and Qualcomm said the study -- after "suitable adjustments to correct certain obvious errors" in assumptions and methodology -- shows radio local area networks aren't a harmful interference risk.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise executives lobbied FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on OK'ing 6 GHz unlicensed operations. HPE CEO Antonio Neri, HPE's Aruba Networks President Keerti Melkote and others asked the agency "to make these rules expeditiously to ensure that products and services based on unlicensed 6 GHz connectivity can be brought to market in the near term." That could help "the next wave of connectivity innovation," an HPE lawyer wrote in docket 18-295: Wi-Fi and unlicensed spectrum have made "transformational contributions" to the U.S. economy. The commission is expected to move this year to allow Wi-Fi in the band, amid utility and others' concerns (see 1911180050). Meanwhile, Southern Co. "urges" any such rules "include sufficient protections to ensure the integrity and reliability of licensed 6 GHz operations," the company said, also posted Friday. Radio local area network low-power indoor units in the band not using automated frequency coordination "will significantly impact Southern’s microwave links, even in a rural, non-urban setting," the utility said. It filed telecom engineer Lockard & White's analysis that Southern requested.

Comments on the FCC proposal for the 5.9 GHz band are due March 9, replies April 6, in docket 19-138, said Thursday's Federal Register. Commissioners approved an NPRM in December 5-0 proposing to reallocate the 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi and cellular vehicle to everything, while preserving 10 MHz for dedicated short-range communications (see 1912120058).

The Wireless ISP Association filed technical comments criticizing a January study by critical infrastructure associations on the risk of harmful interference from unlicensed operations without automatic frequency control in the 6 GHz band (see 2001140057). The study is “based on unreasonable assumptions and, therefore, presents flawed conclusions.” WISPA said in docket 18-295, posted Wednesday: “WISPA has a strong interest in ensuring that its members who hold and intensively use 6 GHz licenses for point-to-point operations are protected from harmful interference, and we are confident that the FCC, with the assistance of a multi-stakeholder group to develop the AFC, can implement an AFC to protect these incumbent services from higher-power outdoor and enable sharing with higher-power unlicensed operations.” The study was filed by the Edison Electric Institute, American Gas Association, American Public Power Association, American Water Works Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Nuclear Energy Institute and Utilities Technology Council.