Tech companies said it's important that the U.S. advocate no change to 6425-7125 MHz in ITU radio regulations, as recommended by the FCC’s World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee (see 2202150030), at next year’s WRC. “We discussed the Commission’s efforts towards global harmonization of unlicensed use of 6 GHz,” said filing posted Wednesday in docket 16-185: “We highlighted the economic and technological importance of unlicensed use in the full band, particularly for continued development of Wi-Fi 7 equipment. As the world leader in Wi-Fi and other unlicensed technologies, the U.S. is a global leader in unlicensed innovation, with U.S. firms holding significant W-Fi 6E patents, and U.S. consumers and enterprises relying heavily on the hundreds of millions of access points and hotspots around the world, along with billions of client devices." Representatives of Cisco, Meta Platforms and Microsoft were among those on a call with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

The FAA “lost a lot of credibility” in how it handled the C band, seeking to stop deployment on the eve of when buildout was supposed to start (see 2201040070), said Harris Wiltshire’s Tricia Paoletta during a Federalist Society spectrum webinar Tuesday. “This was a huge debacle” and embarrassment for everyone involved, she said. Paoletta warned “another nightmare” could be in the offing.

NAB asked the FCC to set aside 55 MHz in the 6 GHz band for licensed use, including electronic newsgathering, in a filing posted Friday in docket 17-183. NAB said it previously asked for 80 MHz but is dialing down that request. “Just 55 MHz would have the benefit of harmonizing the use of the band internationally” and provide two 25 MHz channels for electronic newsgathering, plus a 5 MHz guard band. The set aside would be at the top of the band -- 7070-7125 MHz. “Journalism, including live coverage of events as they unfold, has never been more important,” broadcasters said: “Access to spectrum is an indispensable component of broadcasters’ ability to provide high-quality and real-time coverage of history as it unfolds.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld an FCC order allowing unlicensed use of the band but asked the FCC for further explanation on a narrow issue raised by NAB (see 2112280047).

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology is seeking comment on the one part of the agency’s 2020 6 GHz order on which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit asked the FCC for further explanation. The court otherwise upheld the order, which opened the band for sharing with Wi-Fi (see 2112280047). “We seek comment on NAB’s arguments in the Commission’s proceeding regarding broadcasters’ experience in the 2.4 GHz band, how that experience relates to the kinds of contention-based protocol operations prescribed for indoor use in the 6 GHz rules, and whether the 2.4 GHz experience warrants reservation of a portion of the 6 GHz band for mobile indoor operations or any other modification to the Commission’s 6 GHz rules,” said a notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. OET stressed “in light of the limited scope of the court’s remand, we do not seek comment on any other aspects of the 6 GHz Report and Order.” Comment dates will be in a Federal Register notice.

The FCC Wireless and Public Safety bureaus reminded incumbent fixed microwave operators in the 6 GHz band they must maintain accurate information in the FCC’s Universal Licensing System. Automated frequency coordination systems that will be used to promote sharing with unlicensed users depend on an accurate database, the bureaus said Tuesday. “Licensees should confirm that their ULS records reflect actual operations to ensure that incumbent fixed microwave licensees are protected from harmful interference from both new unlicensed 6 GHz standard power access points and new fixed microwave links that may access the band,” they said.

The FCC needs to stand strong as its decisions reallocating spectrum bands remain “under attack” from other federal agencies, Commissioner Brendan Carr said at an event Thursday, sponsored by CTA and WifiForward. The challenge isn’t new in the Joe Biden administration, he said. The Communications Act makes clear that the FCC should decide how spectrum is allocated, he said. “As spectrum becomes more important, as connectivity becomes more important” other agencies are “effectively trying to challenge that 1930s congressional decision that experts at the FCC should call the balls and strikes here,” he said. Carr sees artificial and virtual reality, and the need for spectrum to connect AR/VR goggles to the internet, as key drivers of continuing demand for Wi-Fi. “At the FCC, we’ve tried to do our part to make sure there is plenty of” unlicensed “spectrum out there,” he said: “We’ve got to continue to stay strong” and “push back against efforts to encroach on the FCC’s expertise.” Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., and Bob Latta, R-Ohio, chairs of the Congressional Wi-Fi Caucus, said the FCC has done a good job making more spectrum available for Wi-Fi and that push needs to continue. “The value of unlicensed spectrum is absolutely undeniable,” McNerney said. Opening the 5.9 and 6 GHz bands for unlicensed was critical, he said. “We can’t rest there,” he said. We have to continue to push the commission to open up more portions of the spectrum for unlicensed use, and that will continue to push innovation,” he said. “What would have happened” without unlicensed spectrum during the COVID-19 pandemic, Latta asked. “Tele-education, telework, just people staying in touch with their loved ones, those are the things that we came to rely on,” he said. “Think where we were 10 years ago, and then five years ago” and where we are today, he said: “We have a great reliance on unlicensed technology. … It’s a necessity now.” The U.S. doesn’t want to follow other countries, “we want to be the leaders,” he said. “Unlicensed spectrum supports a wide range of innovations, from drones and [VR] headsets, to mobile payments and wearables,” said David Grossman, CTA vice president-regulatory affairs.

The FCC plans a 2.5 GHz auction starting in July, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told the Mobile World Congress Tuesday. The FCC has been under pressure to announce a start date, with its auction authority expiring Sept. 30 (see 2202110056). Rosenworcel also told the conference the FCC will issue a notice of inquiry on receiver performance and standards (see 2202180054) in April. Speakers at the Barcelona event said 6 GHz is emerging as a key band for 5G and Wi-Fi globally.

The FCC’s newly reconstituted Technology Advisory Council met for the first time Monday, with a new focus on 6G, directed by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. New TAC Chairman Dean Brenner, a former Qualcomm executive, said TAC’s work is more important than ever due to the reliance on broadband since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago. The first meeting was initially expected in October (see 2107230039).

NCTA told the FCC a CableLabs analysis of a June Southern Co. report, which warned of the threat from low-power indoor unlicensed devices to electric utility operations in the 6 GHz band (see 2106240075), found numerous problems with the study. The report “(1) mistakenly equates interference-to-noise power to a measurement of harmful interference, (2) uses inaccurate Wi-Fi data, (3) appears designed to achieve a harmful interference result, (4) is based on methodologies that the Commission has already properly rejected in the 6 GHz Order, and (5) reports measurements that suggest significant flaws and inaccuracies in Southern’s testing methodology and execution,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. Southern didn’t comment.

A representative of Broadcom, Cisco and Microsoft spoke with a staffer from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology on “indoor operation of standard-power access points in the 6 GHz band,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. The companies cited “the importance of indoor operations to the overall success of the band, that APs operating indoors can seek spectrum access from [automated frequency coordination] under the 6 GHz Order, and that when assigning channels AFCs should consider all relevant technical parameters,” the filing said.