A new report by CableLabs warned that Wi-Fi is running out of spectrum given spiraling demand, and it urged policymakers to preserve the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use. The report came as Congress scrambles to identify 600 MHz of spectrum for full-power licensed use (see 2505140062).

House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, offered positive but different interpretations of President Donald Trump’s apparent endorsement Tuesday (see 2505200058) of the spectrum language cleared in the lower chamber's One Big Beautiful Bill Act budget reconciliation package (HR-1). The two leaders were vague about whether Trump’s statement makes it more difficult for Cruz and other senators to press for potential changes to the spectrum proposal (see 2505130059). Meanwhile, the House Rules Committee was still debating Wednesday afternoon plans for bringing HR-1 to the floor.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on Tuesday approved waivers sought by Comsearch and C3Spectra, which provide automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band, to take building entry loss into account for “composite” standard- and low-power devices that are restricted to operating indoors. “We find that granting this waiver will serve the public interest by increasing the utility of 6 GHz unlicensed devices without increasing the potential for these devices to cause harmful interference to licensed services that share the spectrum,” OET said.

The FCC received pushback to proposals in a January NPRM seeking comment on a voluntary, negotiation-based process to transition 10 MHz in the 900 MHz band to broadband. However, other commenters, led by utilities, urged the FCC to move forward. In 2020, the FCC approved use of 6 GHz of the band for broadband while retaining 4 MHz for narrowband operations (see 2005130057). Comments were due Friday and mostly posted Monday in docket 24-99.

Wi-Fi advocates urged the FCC to reject an NAB petition for reconsideration of an order expanding the parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low-power devices are permitted to operate without coordination (see 2504070062). The FCC declined to set aside 55 MHz as a “safe haven” for electronic newsgathering operations, as NAB requested (see 2410290052). Commissioners approved the order 5-0 in December.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., told us Tuesday night that he doesn’t see it as a setback that several Senate Commerce Committee Republicans want to pursue alternatives to parts of the House panel’s budget reconciliation package spectrum proposal (see 2505120058), even as some congressional DOD supporters raised their own objections to the measure. House Commerce cleared its spectrum and AI reconciliation language early Wednesday on a party-line, 29-24 vote after Democrats unsuccessfully floated a handful of amendments that reflected their objection to using future FCC auction proceeds as an offset for extending the 2017 tax cuts and other GOP priorities.

SpaceX could be the biggest beneficiary as the FCC takes a hard look at EchoStar's compliance with milestones attached to its 5G network buildout. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's inquiry into EchoStar's compliance with buildout deadlines (see 2505120074) "clearly originate[s]" from SpaceX, LightShed Partners' Walt Piecyk wrote Tuesday. He said the FCC probe appears to be particularly focused on EchoStar's use of the S band -- spectrum real estate that SpaceX wants.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz of Texas is holding off on publicly endorsing or opposing the House Commerce Committee's reconciliation package spectrum proposal (see 2505120058), but he and some other fellow panel Republicans are already looking at potential changes if it emerges from the lower chamber as currently written. House Commerce hadn't yet tackled the reconciliation measure’s spectrum language Tuesday afternoon as panel members traded barbs about the legislation’s proposed Medicaid cuts.

House Commerce Committee Republicans found some success Monday in selling their Sunday night budget reconciliation proposal -- which would restore the FCC’s lapsed auction authority through FY 2034 and tee up 600 MHz of bandwidth -- as effectively balancing the interests of major communications sector and military stakeholders. But lobbyists cautioned that the measure still faces an uncertain path unless House GOP leaders can win support from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and others in the upper chamber. House Commerce set a Tuesday reconciliation markup session, which will begin at 2 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

Nearly 50 WISPA members were in Washington on Wednesday to meet with policymakers on issues important to wireless ISPs, the group said. On Capitol Hill, WISPA had scheduled more than 60 meetings with members of Congress and staff from both chambers, said a news release. “WISPs provide broadband to over 9 million Americans, primarily in unserved, under-resourced, and Tribal areas that too often fall outside the reach of traditional providers,” WISPA said: “By leveraging a mix of unlicensed spectrum, shared spectrum such as [citizens broadband radio service] and 6 GHz, and increasingly fiber, WISPs have long pioneered flexible, cost-effective broadband solutions -- often in places no one else would serve.” Matt Mandel, WISPA's vice president-government affairs, said WISPs are closing deployment gaps “faster and more affordably than legacy providers.”