Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg backed lawmakers' concerns Thursday about the FCC’s November vote to reallocate 5.9 GHz for Wi-Fi and cellular vehicle-to-everything (see 2011180043). He pointed during a House Infrastructure Committee hearing to coming talks within President Joe Biden's administration about an equitable way to address the issue. Lobbyists we spoke with said they expect a formal interagency review soon.

Proponents urged the FCC to allow client-to-client operations in the 6 GHz band, and incumbents opposed the C2C change, in replies posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. This was consistent with initial comments (see 2102230056). “The record in this proceeding supports the need to make the band even more useful by facilitating the applications that client-to-client communications will support,” said the Wi-Fi Alliance. Many opponents seek "to re-litigate the Commission’s sound decision to permit unlicensed device access to the 6 GHz band,” the alliance said. C2C will become the standard worldwide, said Apple, Broadcom, Commscope, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm. “Peer-to-peer use cases like those that would be facilitated … are standard in other bands for many consumer electronic devices in the United States,” the companies said: “They include onboarding smart home equipment using smartphones, sharing streaming video from one device to another, and sharing files among users or devices quickly and efficiently.” Low-power indoor C2C would “improve the performance of current" uses and enable new ones, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance said. Comments “overwhelmingly oppose allowing client-to-client communications, and the proponents have failed to provide sufficient technical information to show that such operations would not cause harmful interference to licensed microwave systems,” said utility and public safety groups, led by APCO, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, Edison Electric Institute and Utilities Technology Council. C2C would “significantly increase the interference potential to licensed microwave systems,” they said. CTIA urged caution, noting that, working with Southern Co., it did some of the only 6 GHz interference testing. Results “provide prima facie evidence that even devices operating in compliance with the existing rules will cause harmful interference to incumbent users,” the group said. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said the proposal poses a risk to vehicle-to-everything uses of the band and could also affect the 5.9 GHz band.

The record is “insufficient” to justify changing 6 GHz rules to allow client-to-client communications, NAB said in replies posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment in January (see 2101110031). Make changes after the FCC and industry have “real-world experiences with unlicensed operations in the 6 GHz band,” NAB said. Southern Co. called for a revamped process for testing interference from 6 GHz devices to band incumbents, in a call with an aide to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Southern remains very concerned about the potential for harmful interference to licensed 6 GHz systems,” the utility said.

With the USF contribution factor at an all-time high (see 2103020032), reform must be addressed “head-on,” said FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr during a Free State Foundation event Tuesday. The contribution factor has been “spiraling,” he said.

Pause equipment certification approvals for 6 GHz unlicensed low-power indoor (LPI) access points, CTIA representatives urged in a call with Ron Repasi, chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology. CTIA provided “prima facie evidence” in a recent report "that even 6 GHz LPI operations in compliance with the existing rules will cause harmful interference to incumbent users,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 17-183.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr laid out a “road map” for actions he hopes the regulator will take this year on spectrum, during an American Enterprise Institute webinar Monday. He wants the FCC to finalize broadband maps this fall, suggesting it focus on relatively basic ones that could be finished more quickly. Until maps are completed, the FCC is “a bit stalled” on launching a Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase II or 5G Fund auction, he said: “Congress provided us a lot of funding … to get that job done. … Then if we want to add to those maps over time, we should.” Carr expects continuing problems and “tough calls” to make more federal spectrum available for wireless. He hopes “we end up with the right leadership to push forward.” Carr said that if the FCC returns to Communications Act Title II rules for net neutrality, 5G could suffer. “You may bless an individual use case, but you could cast doubt” on others, he said. The challenge in the 12 GHz band, the subject of a January NPRM (see 2101130067), is mainly “a technical one,” Carr said. “If we can get 5G terrestrial use in 12 and continue to get the public interest benefits that come from this new generation of low-earth orbit satellites, that’s great,” he said. “That’s what the engineering at this moment is sorting through.” Carr wants a federal lands desk at the FCC on siting issues: “There’s not a ton that we have authority to do with respect to federal lands,” but a desk “would at least give people on the outside a one-stop shop to bring their issues.” Complete work on the 6 GHz Further NPRM, allowing very low-power devices to operate at 14 dBm, Carr urged. Schedule a 2.5 GHz auction as soon as possible, he said, and launch a proceeding to look at updating rules for the U-NII-2C band (5470-5725 MHz). “Equipment manufacturers don’t even bother to include the band in many 5 GHz Wi-Fi devices.”

The FCC will likely move forward on a Further NPRM allowing very low-power use of the 6 GHz band outdoors without automated frequency coordination, said Alex Roytblat, Wi-Fi Alliance vice president-regulatory affairs, on an alliance webinar Thursday. Then-Chairman Ajit Pai declined to seek a vote before leaving in January (see 2012180057). Roytblat said the change in administrations slowed FCC work on the rulemaking, approved 5-0 in April (see 2004230059). Review “is ongoing,” and the agency recently asked additional questions about client-to-client devices (see 2102230056), Roytblat said. “They are moving forward,” he said. “Once the leadership at the FCC is stabilized, we hope that this would come back as a priority item.” Brazil allows such low-power operations, and the U.S. shouldn’t be “left behind,” he said. Alliance officials didn’t discuss the legal challenge to the rules (see 2102160082), which acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel mentioned last month when asked about the status (see 2102170049). Approaches on 6 GHz vary, with a few countries considering only licensed use, Roytblat said. In Europe, 500 MHz of 1,200 MHz is being offered for Wi-Fi, he said. Some countries are taking a “staged approach” waiting to make decisions beyond an initial 500 MHz, he said. Broadcom, Intel, MediaTek and Qualcomm chipsets and end-user devices are certified for Wi-Fi 6E, which uses the 6 GHz band, said Nick Sargologos, alliance senior product manager. Seven of 12 new routers premiered at January's CES use 6 GHz, he said. Smartphones, PCs and laptops with Wi-Fi 6E chips are expected to start shipping this quarter, he said, with TVs and virtual reality devices certified by midyear. The swath provides 160 MHz-wide channels, Sargologos said. Only two similarly wide channels are in 5 GHz, versus seven at 6 GHz, he said. He said all Wi-Fi 6E devices must work with earlier generations.

The Wireless ISP Association sought FCC action on bands, in a call with acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. WISPA asked the agency to wrap up work on the 6 GHz Further NPRM and schedule a single-round, sealed-bid auction for 2.5 GHz. “Move forward with the proposal to segment” the 5.9 GHz band and “allocate 45 megahertz for unlicensed use,” WISPA said in a Wednesday posting in 18-295 and other dockets. On the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, WISPA said the FCC should “rely on its experienced and knowledgeable staff to thoroughly review long-form applications to determine whether auction winners are ‘reasonably capable’ of meeting their performance obligations, and to resist efforts to pre-judge certain applicants or applications.”

The Wireless Infrastructure Association said the Wi-Fi Alliance will partner with the group at WIA’s Connectivity Expo conference, Aug. 3-6 in Boston. The alliance will offer a keynote update on Wi-Fi 6 and the 6 GHz band.

International Association of Fire Chiefs officials raised concerns over the FCC’s 4.9 GHz order in a call with Commissioner Nathan Simington. The FCC reallocated the band to the states with a 3-2 vote in September (see 2009300050). “Public safety utilizes the 4.9 GHz band to host broadband intranet networks, video camera networks, bomb disposal robot operations, and airborne public safety video operations,” the group said in a Monday posting in docket 07-114. It warned of interference to public safety from opening 6 GHz for unlicensed use.