CTIA asked the FCC to avoid making decisions that could complicate future licensed use of the 7/8 GHz band, in response to an NPRM on implementing 2015 and 2019 decisions by the World Radiocommunication Conference (see 2311290040). The U.S. “is well positioned to lead the world in licensed use of the 7/8 GHz band and to help define the ecosystems that will develop in this potentially globally harmonized tuning range,” said a Monday filing in docket 23-120. CTIA noted that delegates to WRC-23 decided to study 7/8 GHz for international mobile telecommunications. “Making licensed spectrum available in this band domestically will give the United States an early foothold for influencing the global mid-band IMT market,” CTIA said. In addition, the band is “a critical opportunity for economies of scale with the 6 GHz band, where global counterparts are planning to utilize as much as 700 megahertz in the upper portion of the band for 5G,” the group said: “International efforts to advance the 7/8 GHz band for 5G and beyond are consistent with the Administration’s clear direction” in the national spectrum strategy, “which calls for a whole-of-government effort to fast-track an in-depth study of these frequencies for wireless use.”

The U.S. attained generally positive results at the World Radiocommunication Conference, but 6 GHz band issues remain, Steve Lang, the State Department official who headed the U.S. WRC delegation, told an American Enterprise Institute event Monday. In contrast, other speakers argued WRC wasn’t a clean U.S. win.

The Electric Power Research Institute briefed the FCC about the analysis it used that led to file challenges to various public trials of 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) systems (see 2312220043). EPRI submitted test vectors consisting of locations along fixed-service system centerlines "with line of sight to an FS receive station,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-352. “The AFC operator response for each test vector was compared to a free space path loss (FSPL) calculation,” EPRI said: “Locations where it was found that the AFC operator assigned co-channel maximum power spectral density (PSD) was more than 3 dB in excess of the maximum PSD based on the FSPL calculation were included in the challenge letter.” EPRI understands the metrics it used were different from those the FCC specified, the filing said.

Cable operators not providing 100/20 Mbps speeds and fixed wireless access operators will be among the broadband equity, access and deployment program's biggest beneficiaries, speakers said during a Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers/Light Reading webinar Thursday. In addition, installers and equipment providers can anticipate "a very busy [next] four years," Morgan Lewis communications lawyer Andrew Lipman said.

The U.S. scored an important win for Wi-Fi at the recent World Radiocommunication Conference, beating back a move to harmonize the upper 6 GHz band for 5G, speakers said during a CES discussion of unlicensed spectrum late Thursday. Officials said restoration of FCC auction authority is critical, but when Congress will act remains uncertain.

Wi-Fi Alliance Services representatives urged FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff to let the company launch operations as an automated frequency coordination system provider in the 6 GHz band. They noted the company “has taken all the steps specified by the Commission to be recognized as a provider of 6 GHz AFC services, including submitting its Report on the public trial it conducted,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 21-352 said.

Expect to see Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 adopted this year, driven by increased demand for newer generation Wi-Fi networks, NCTA Chief Technology Officer Rikin Thakker said Wednesday. Also driving popularity of Wi-Fi 6E/7 will be their ability to use 6 GHz band spectrum, particularly as more countries open up the band, he said. Thakker said more cable operators will upgrade plants to DOCSIS 4.0 in 2024 as they move to multi-gig speeds. He expects some will deploy extended DOCSIS 3.1 as a precursor to end-to-end DOCSIS 4.0. He also said NTIA's National Spectrum Implementation Plan will set out strategies for bands of importance to cable -- 3.1-3.45 GHz, 7.125-8.4 GHz and 37-37.6 GHz.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez warned at the CES in Las Vegas that the U.S. could fall behind other nations unless the agency once again has authority to conduct spectrum auctions. The remarks were her first at a CES as an FCC member. Meanwhile, Commissioner Brendan Carr, also at the show, said the FCC is moving backward on spectrum. Carr slammed the administration’s national spectrum strategy for not opening any new spectrum (see 2401100032), which he called “a bit of a miss.” CTA officials said Carr and Gomez toured the CES show floor together Wednesday.

Congress is unlikely to follow up the 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act (S-2787) with a near-term agreement on a broader spectrum legislative package, certainly not in time to factor into the upcoming debate over funding the federal government once an existing continuing resolution expires Feb. 2, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. President Joe Biden signed the 5G Sale Act last week (see 2312200061), giving the FCC temporary authority to issue 2.5 GHz band licenses that T-Mobile and others won in a 2022 auction. All sides view the measure as a stopgap, required after months of stalled talks on Capitol Hill for a broader legislative package that would renew the FCC’s lapsed general auction authority (see 2312040001).

Leaders of the 12 GHz for 5G Coalition told us they expect an order opening use of the lower 12 GHz band for fixed-wireless in Q1 2024. The group's leaders had hoped for action by the end of this year, after commissioners approved a Further NPRM in May examining the band's future (see 2309110061).