Enable portable operations in the 6 GHz band for immersive 5G services, Broadcom, Intel and Microsoft asked FCC Office of Engineering and Technology staff. “Enable communication between client devices when they are within range of an authorized 6 GHz Low Power Indoor Access Point,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. “The record clearly demonstrates that such operations would not increase the risk of harmful interference because clients would operate at the same power level as a client device communicating with the nearby access point … and only within that access point’s service area.” Commissioners may vote on changes in December (see 2010190040).

The FCC is expected to approve an order making further changes to wireless infrastructure rules in what could be a 3-2 vote Tuesday, with opposition possible from Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks, industry and FCC officials said. The order appears to have moved little since Chairman Ajit Pai circulated it, officials said. On a second wireless item, changes appear likely to the TV white spaces order, also set for a vote, with the FCC likely to seek comment on changes sought by Microsoft, officials said.

The FCC is expected to vote on an order opening the 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi and cellular vehicle-to-everything in November and an order on proposed further changes in the 6 GHz band in December, regardless of what happens in the Nov. 3 election. Chairman Ajit Pai likely will have broad support for the changes even if Joe Biden is elected and FCC control shifts to Democrats in January, agency and industry officials told us.

Require further testing before approving rules for the 6 GHz band, as proposed in a Further NPRM (see 2007280033), Southern Co. said in a call with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Southern cited “the need for actual testing of unlicensed devices to evaluate their effect on licensed incumbent operations under real-world conditions prior to authorizing any expansion of unlicensed operations in the 6 GHz band,” in a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. “Efforts are underway by incumbents to try to set up and conduct testing that could help inform the Commission and all stakeholders, but these efforts are hampered by the inability to obtain prototype or pre-market devices for testing.” Tech companies spoke with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel on the importance of rules ensuring “6 GHz devices meet consumers’ expectations by enabling mobile use -- including both mobile [automatic frequency coordination]-controlled devices as well as very-low-power devices.” Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Qualcomm were participants. The companies had a similar call with Commissioner Brendan Carr (see 2010090038).

AT&T questioned a CableLabs study that argued the FCC can safely make additional changes to its 6 GHz rules proposed in a Further NPRM (see 2008270021). The study “suffers from significant flaws and mischaracterizations and provides no sound legal or engineering basis for Commission decisions in this docket,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 17-183. “The use of low-power indoor radio local area network devices without Automated Frequency Control constitutes a serious threat of harmful interference to 6 GHz Fixed Service at the power levels permitted in the 6 GHz Order -- a threat that would be exacerbated by the doubling of power proposed in the 6 GHz FNPRM,” AT&T said.

The FCC doesn’t “really believe” public safety agencies will ever leave the 470-512 MHz T band, despite the 2012 Spectrum Act's mandate, Enterprise Wireless Alliance Regulatory Counsel Elizabeth Sachs told the EWA’s virtual wireless leadership summit Wednesday. Congress “adopted legislation without really understanding what it meant or who was involved or what the impact would be,” said Sachs, of Lukas LaFuria.

FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry and a top CTIA official downplayed reports the Trump administration is pushing the Pentagon to move forward on developing a national 5G network. The wireless industry sent a letter to President Donald Trump Tuesday opposing efforts to nationalize 5G network infrastructure. Berry and Scott Bergmann, CTIA senior vice president-regulatory affairs, spoke Monday at the Americas Spectrum Management Conference. DOD isn’t planning to launch a competitive 5G network, Fred Moorefield, deputy chief information officer-command, control and communications, said at an FCBA virtual conference Tuesday. Moorefield said he had seen the reports on the White House push but couldn't confirm them.

Tech companies spoke with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr on their quest for further changes to 6 GHz rules, the subject of a Further NPRM (see 2007280033). “We discussed the importance of Commission rules that ensure 6 GHz devices meet consumers’ expectations by enabling mobile use -- including both mobile [automatic frequency coordination]-controlled devices as well as very-low-power devices,” said a filing by Apple, Google, Facebook and other tech companies posted Friday in docket 18-295: “Mobile AFC-controlled devices would not add any significant new complexity to the AFC, and could leverage capabilities commonly found in mobile devices today.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approved a waiver for Metrom Rail, allowing the certification and operation of ultra-wideband devices used to enhance the safety and reliability of transit rail operations. Metrom is a technology company that serves railroads. “Specifically, we are waiving the requirement that devices must be handheld while operating and are allowing Metrom’s directional antenna system to employ an additional 6 dB of gain to produce an [effective isotropic radiated power] of up to -35.3 dBm/MHz,” OET said in a Friday order in docket 18-284. Metrom’s operations are limited to 3.248-4.990 GHz, OET said. The waiver request was before the FCC for more than two years (see 1809200041).

RKF Engineering's statistical Monte Carlo analysis demonstrates very-low-power unlicensed devices at 14 dBm “will not create harmful interference to licensed services” in the 6 GHz band, tech companies told the FCC. “RKF’s study contained sensitivity analysis across multiple factors, including the number of active VLP devices,” said Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft, NXP Semiconductors and Qualcomm, in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. Commissioners are expected to consider rules in November (see 2008200040), responding to an April Further NPRM (see 2004230059).