Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday “to guard the critical spectrum resources currently assigned to” DOD, which has proposed reallocating some military-controlled bands (see 2504040068). Cantwell said any DOD reallocation in response to congressional Republicans’ push for a spectrum pipeline as part of a coming budget reconciliation package would put “short-term corporate gain ahead of our nation’s long-term security.”

Deficit reduction is driving spectrum policy and an auction means money for the Treasury, but lawmakers shouldn’t ignore Wi-Fi's growing role, said WifiForward Executive Director Mary Brown during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. Brown said she expects action in the House and Senate on spectrum legislation in the next four to 10 weeks, restoring FCC auction authority and identifying some bands for auction. Still to be determined is how specific Congress will be in picking bands and the timelines it will impose, she said.

The Wi-Fi Alliance on Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of the FCC's controversial order opening the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use (see 2004230059). “The 6 GHz band has played a critical role in enabling next-generation Wi-Fi -- driving the global rollout of Wi-Fi 7 -- by relieving network congestion and expanding high-performance connectivity,” the alliance said: Since the FCC order was approved, “billions of 6 GHz Wi-Fi devices have entered the market, underscoring the rapid adoption and far-reaching benefits of forward-looking spectrum policy.”

Federated Wireless urged the FCC to consider the success of spectrum sharing in the citizens broadband radio access service and 6 GHz as it moves forward on the 4.9 GHz public safety band. The CBRS spectrum access system (SAS) and 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) system “enable widespread commercial access to spectrum while protecting existing and evolving incumbent use,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 07-100. As the FCC considers “the requirements and responsibilities” of the 4.9 GHz band manager, it should consider leveraging “proven spectrum management tools and capabilities” such as the SAS and AFC “to ensure efficient and intense utilization of the 4.9 GHz Band in support of public safety missions nationwide,” said Federated, whose representatives met with staff from the Wireless and Public Safety bureaus.

CTIA offered the FCC a list of programs for streamlining through the commission’s “Delete” proceeding in comments posted Monday in docket 25-133. In addition, USTelecom recommended “eliminating, streamlining, or reforming” some 3,000 rules in the "Code of Federal Regulations." The comments provide commission staff with thousands of suggestions to wade through as they evaluate changes the telecom industry suggested. As of late Monday, the commission has received nearly 900 comments in the proceeding (see 2504140063 and 2504140037).

Lumi United Technology asked the FCC on Friday to approve its requested waiver for an ultra-wideband (UWB) door lock system that would operate in the 6-10 GHz frequency range (see 2502250037). “Three parties filed comments in this proceeding, and all three parties support the waiver,” Lumi said in docket 25-102. “The comments confirm that the Lumi UWB Door Locks will pose no risk of harmful interference and that there are significant public interest benefits to granting the waiver request.”

Spectrum sharing is taking off as a concept in nations around the world, speakers said during the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Spectrum Management Conference, which streamed from Bahrain on Thursday. Sharing technologies is becoming more dynamic as the need for access to spectrum grows, speakers said.

The citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band uses technology that's “simplistic” and “at this point …obsolete,” so it shouldn’t be considered the best model for sharing, Rysavy Research President Peter Rysavy said. Rysavy spoke as part of an American Enterprise Institute series on spectrum, posted Monday. He also argued that 7/8 GHz spectrum should be allocated for full-power licensed use. CBRS hasn't been very widely used because “it involves coordination between incumbents and secondary users,” and “there’s a very complicated environmental sensing capability that secondary users must rely on to detect” DOD operations.

NAB on Monday sought reconsideration of an FCC order that expanded the parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low-power devices are permitted to operate without coordination (see 2412110040). 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.

Representatives of the Association of American Railroads and major members CSX and BNSF Railway Co. discussed spectrum needs in a meeting with an aide to Chairman Brendan Carr. The representatives noted railroads’ use of spectrum in the 160-161, 219.5-222, 450 and 900 MHz and 6 GHz bands, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 17-200.