Require “rigorous testing … to demonstrate that unlicensed devices can coexist with incumbent” 6 GHz licensees before allowing additional equipment certifications for unlicensed low-power indoor devices, utility and public safety groups urged an aide to acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The groups asked the FCC to pause authorizations in January (see 2101270037). “Such testing should be conducted before more LPI devices … become commercially available, otherwise it will be extremely difficult to retrieve these devices from consumers,” they said in an ex parte posted Thursday in docket 18-295. The Utilities Technology Council, Edison Electric Institute, American Public Power Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, American Petroleum Institute, American Water Works Association, American Gas Association, National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, International Association of Fire Chiefs and APCO were on the call.

More Wi-Fi advocates defended the FCC's April 6 GHz order, in an amicus brief (in Pacer) Tuesday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in docket 20-1190. Commission "engineers spent years assessing technical analyses and arguments from parties on all sides,” said Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft, NCTA and the Wi-Fi Alliance. “The [6 GHz] Order embodies a careful, conservative decision, based on a massive technical record, to unlock the benefits of next-generation unlicensed technologies while protecting licensed users from harmful interference.”

Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Intel and Qualcomm proposed an FCC “compromise” for very-low-power portable operations throughout the 6 GHz band. They proposed that devices must meet an out-of-band emissions level of -37 dBm/MHz, measured by root mean square at 5925 MHz and prioritize operations in channels above 6105 MHz, said their filing posted Tuesday in docket 17-183.

Wi-Fi advocates defended the FCC’s April decision to allow unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band, in an amicus brief posted Tuesday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (in Pacer) in docket 20-1190. “The FCC has more than 30 years of experience managing unlicensed spectrum access, using rules and procedures similar to those" here, said Public Knowledge, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and New America Open Technology Institute. “The FCC has consistently and successfully nurtured the unlicensed ecosystem while protecting licensed services from harmful interference.”

6 GHz incumbents and Wi-Fi advocates clashed about a January notice from the Office of Engineering and Technology on whether the FCC should allow client-to-client device communications (see 2101110031), in comments posted through Tuesday in docket 18-295. The agency is considering more sweeping changes, based on a Further NPRM approved 5-0 in April. Shortly before the end of the Trump administration, OET sought comment on one additional change.

OMB OK'd information collection requirements in the FCC 6 GHz order, which commissioners approved 5-0 in April (see 2004230059), says Friday's Federal Register. OMB pegged compliance at $72.5 million.

Tech companies sought action on a pending Further NPRM on the 6 GHz band, in meetings with FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and with an aide to acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The order adopted carefully considered rules that will protect incumbents while permitting innovation in fixed unlicensed equipment and operations,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295. Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, CommScope, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm were on the calls. A Hogan spokesperson said the suit "highlights how not only are there real policy problems with the digital ad tax, but also serious legal questions surrounding it as well." The Maryland attorney general's office declined comment on pending litigation.

The FCC approved 4-0 an NPRM proposing revised rules for a program to pay for the replacement of equipment from Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks, as expected (see 2102110053), at the commissioners' meeting Wednesday. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stressed that even more than the previous administration, she's emphasizing coordination with other parts of the federal government in her approach to supply chain risks. Commissioner Brendan Carr said the U.S. must stay tough on China.

The FCC defended its April decision to allow unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band, in a filing posted Tuesday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (in Pacer) in docket 20-1190. “The Commission’s decision was made after careful consideration of the evidence presented by both proponents and opponents of unlicensed operations,” the FCC said: “Over the course of a nearly three-year rulemaking, the agency reviewed a voluminous and highly technical record that included roughly 100 studies and thousands of filings from interested parties.” AT&T, APCO, NAB, electric utilities and others challenged the rules (see 2012180057). The FCC said the rules protect incumbents.

Southern Co. representatives raised concerns about the lack of interference testing in the 6 GHz band as the band is opened for Wi-Fi (see 2102090067). “Southern described the ongoing problems that it and other incumbents have had in obtaining the cooperation of unlicensed proponents with any form of testing or test program,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295: “Manufacturers and proponents of unlicensed use have consistently ignored or rejected repeated requests to participate in any field testing.”