FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the several items that she and her colleagues tentatively will vote on Sept. 30. They include public-safety spectrum and 911 issues, plus paving the way for more robust Wi-Fi and cracking down further on some robocalls, she blogged Wednesday afternoon. The drafts will be released Thursday, a spokesperson told us. Our earlier news bulletin is here.

FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced what she and her colleagues will vote on Sept. 30. They include public-safety spectrum and 911 issues, plus paving the way for more robust Wi-Fi and cracking down further on some robocalls, she blogged Wednesday afternoon. The drafts will be released Thursday, a spokesperson told us.

The FCC's next steps on open radio access networks are unclear, three months after the agency wrapped up a comment cycle on a notice of inquiry, industry experts told us. The big question they have is what the FCC could propose in an NPRM that would help speed the deployment of ORAN. Experts said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and other commissioners see open networks as offering an alternative to an equipment market with a limited number of players, but a decision may have to wait for a permanent chair and full contingent of commissioners.

The FCC Wireless Bureau granted six licenses to tribes in Alaska to use the 2.5 GHz band for broadband. That brings to 270 the number of licenses granted to tribal entities, the FCC said Monday.

Launching automated frequency control (AFC) in the 6 GHz band will likely be complicated and could take years to roll out, members of the Wireless Innovation Forum’s 6 GHz Committee Steering Group warned FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff. Experiences with the citizens broadband radio service and TV white spaces suggest the process could take three years or longer, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. The process “could also be lengthy if required to wait for the FCC to perform AFC system testing, or select (and possibly accredit) third-party labs,” the filing said. The group asked about ways to streamline testing, whether some steps can be done in parallel and about AFC system operators testing their own systems.

An AT&T representative urged the FCC to consider 6 GHz interference concerns raised by Southern Co. (see 2106240075), in a call with an aide to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The FCC allowed the use of low-power indoor devices without automated frequency coordination based on “theoretical studies by some proponents for unlicensed use that purported to show that such use would be unlikely to cause harmful interference to microwave incumbents,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295. Southern provided “data from real-world tests of commercial, off-the-shelf 6 GHz unlicensed devices and an actual operating microwave link, and the data show harmful interference to primary, incumbent microwave licensees is inevitable,” AT&T said.

Representatives of Broadcom, Cisco and Facebook spoke with Office of Engineering and Technology acting Chief Ron Repasi and others from OET about launching the Open Automated Frequency Coordination Software Group for the 6 GHz band (see 2108100022), said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295.

Broadcom, Cisco and Facebook announced the launch of the Open Automated Frequency Coordination Software Group, as part of the Telecom Infra Project, to spur the commercialization of 6 GHz Wi-Fi devices. The group hopes to “develop a common reference open source software for an AFC system,” said a Tuesday news release: “The AFC will be used by unlicensed devices in the newly available 6 GHz band to operate outdoor and increased range indoor while ensuring incumbent services are protected.” Many applications and use cases “we’re just beginning to dream up with the introduction of Wi-Fi 6 and the 6 GHz spectrum will rely on standard power, greater range and reliability,” said Rakesh Thaker, Cisco vice president-wireless engineering: “This software group will play an important role in ensuring those applications can become reality, while also protecting important incumbent services.”

Shure and Sennheiser back an FCC proposal to allow wireless multichannel audio systems (WMAS) for wireless mics, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 21-115. Others urged caution; comments were due Monday on an NPRM OK’d 4-0 in April (see 2104220056). "Users have been burdened by significant reductions in available spectrum as a result of the Commission’s repurposing and repacking of TV band spectrum while the demand for wireless microphone support for a wide range of productions and events has only increased,” Shure said. “WMAS has the potential to enable wireless microphone users to pack far more wireless microphones into the same amount of spectrum and achieve the same high quality performance with no adverse interference impact to adjacent band and co-channel users.” OK WMAS for Part 74 licensed and Part 15 unlicensed, the company said. WMAS “allows the wireless microphone operator to maximize the available spectral resources,” Sennheiser commented: It "utilizes the spectral resources only" when needed. Remove the 6875-6900 and 7100-7125 MHz bands from the list of eligible frequencies for wireless mics, Microsoft said: “These bands have been unused by wireless microphones for years.” Microsoft urged a channel bandwidth limit of 6 MHz, a spectral efficiency of three mics per MHz for high-performance devices and power limits consistent with Part 74 rules. Cisco and Facebook asked that 6 GHz and 7 GHz mics be excluded, citing interference risks. “Steer clear of spectrum policy decisions that unnecessarily promote uncertainty impacting the future use of unlicensed technology that the Commission is so clearly relying on as a key ingredient in its recipe to advance the nation’s broadband goals,” they said. The Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council said it doesn’t have concerns on WMAS using the 1.4 GHz aeronautical mobile telemetry band, on a secondary basis, provided protections remain.

Tech companies fired back at Southern Co report from last month, warning of interference from low-power indoor unlicensed devices for electric utility operations in the 6 GHz band (see 2106240075). “We were disappointed to see that, more than a year after the Commission’s unanimous decision to authorize unlicensed low-power indoor devices in the 6 GHz band, Southern continues to focus its efforts on undermining that decision,” the companies said, posted Friday in docket 17-183: “The result of this approach is yet another set of advocacy-driven tests.” Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm filed. Southern declined comment.