Faced with competition from fixed wireless access (FWA), fiber and increasingly low earth orbit satellite, cable internet service providers are responding by trying to starve FWA of spectrum it needs in the 3, 6, 7 and 8 GHz bands, consultant Richard Bennett wrote last week. Cable is also trying to siphon BEAD funding from fiber by directing it at less-powerful technologies like SpaceX's Starlink, he said. In addition, cable is improving its service by tackling "its painful asymmetry," he said. "Broadband doesn’t need to be equal speeds up and down, but 40 Mbps up and 1.2 Gbps down is ridiculous." DOCSIS 4.0 technology is developing slowly, Bennett said, and marketing it will necessitate a sales pitch very different from cable's traditional emphasis on download speeds, while ignoring everything else.

Michael Calabrese, representing the Open Technology Institute at New America, spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on some of the group’s priorities at the new FCC. Calabrese urged “a rapid resolution” of remaining issues in the FCC’s 2020 6 GHz Further NPRM. He explained “why the authorization of a somewhat higher maximum power level,” 8 dBm/MHz power spectral density level for indoor-only use, is “important for continued U.S. leadership in next generation Wi-Fi, and to ensure affordable high-capacity Wi-Fi 6/7 connectivity for virtually all consumers, businesses and community anchor institutions,” according to a filing this week in docket 18-295. Calabrese encouraged the FCC to complete work on mobile handset unlocking rules teed up in the last administration (see 2407180037). Moreover, he asked about the status of FCC work on the lower 12 GHz band (see 2411270046). In 12 GHz, “coordinated sharing is clearly feasible between the fixed satellite incumbents and proposed fixed terrestrial point-to-point and point-to-multipoint services” in the band, the filing said.

The Wi-Fi Alliance disputed the Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition's arguments against an FCC waiver allowing automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band to take building entry loss (BEL) into account for “composite” standard-power and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors (see 2501060060). FWCC claims that the waiver “conflicts with established Commission policy because [the Office of Engineering and Technology] failed to articulate ‘special circumstances beyond those considered during regular rulemaking,’” the alliance said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-107. FWCC also “claims that this established Commission policy was violated because (i) the circumstances were already considered during a rulemaking proceeding; and (ii) the circumstances were insufficiently different from those considered during the rulemaking proceeding,” the alliance said. “Neither claim is accurate and, therefore, does not support granting FWCC’s requested relief.”

Axon Networks told the FCC that because it agreed to use the common testing portal, the Office of Engineering and Technology was justified in allowing the company to conduct a 20-day public test of its 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) system. Axon responded to the Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition, which said the usual 45-day period should have been required (see 2501140078). Axon noted that OET also allowed a 20-day period for tests by C3Spectra last year and no one objected. “Lack of prior objections notwithstanding, OET’s decision to give the affected applicants the option of a shortened public testing period where a common testing portal would be leveraged was both ‘reasonable and reasonably explained,’” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-352. In the 2023 testing procedures public notice, “OET highlighted the expected benefits of a single point of entry for testing all AFCs, and it gave applicants the option of using a common Internet-based test portal with other AFC systems in lieu of setting up their own public trial test portal,” Axon said.

Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi expects relative stability on spectrum issues with the change in administrations, though he noted there are always questions. In a wide-ranging interview with us, he predicted that sharing in some form will be part of the rules for the lower 3 GHz band, one of the top focuses of carriers for exclusive, licensed use. A former Sprint executive, Tarazi became CEO of Federated in 2014.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on Wednesday approved C3Spectra to operate an automated frequency coordination (AFC) system in the 6 GHz band (see 2408130030). “This action benefits American consumers and businesses by enabling an additional AFC system to provide service to standard power and fixed client devices further expanding spectrum access for new applications and services,” said an order in docket 21-352.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's final monthly meeting was largely a victory lap for the outgoing leader, with commission officials offering more than two hours of testimony Wednesday detailing accomplishments during her tenure. Also, Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized what she called an "apparent campaign to bring broadcasters and content platforms to heel" -- a seeming jab at Commissioner Brendan Carr's commitment to battle a "censorship cartel" (see 2411180059, 2412160052 and 2411080046).

The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition (FWCC) objected on Tuesday to one aspect of a December order by the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology that conditionally approved Axon Networks’ plan to operate an automated frequency coordination (AFC) system to manage access to the 6 GHz band by standard-power unlicensed devices (see 2412060046). FWCC complained that OET “arbitrarily” departed “from Commission policy” by permitting Axon to shorten its public trial period to 20 days, instead of the usual 45. “OET fails to meet the standard for agency decisionmaking because shortening the public trial period will result in disparate treatment among similarly situated AFC applicants,” said a filing in docket 21-352: The decision “constitutes an impermissible policy change because the change was made without good reason.”

The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition asked the FCC for a stay of a waiver the Wi-Fi Alliance received allowing automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band to take building entry loss into account for “composite” standard-power and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors. The request was filed on Monday and posted Tuesday in docket 23-107. The coalition also asked the FCC to review the order (see 2501060060).

The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition is seeking review of a waiver approved for the Wi-Fi Alliance allowing automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band to take building entry loss into account for “composite” standard-power and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approved the waiver last month (see 2412050049). “Did OET’s finding that special circumstances warranted grant of the Waiver Request conflict with case precedent regarding what constitutes special circumstances?” FWCC asked in a filing Monday in docket 23-107. Taken through delegated authority, the action “conflicts with statute, regulation, case precedent, or established Commission policy,” in violation of FCC rules, the group said: “OET erred by failing to articulate ‘special circumstances beyond those considered during regular rulemaking.’”