SiriusXM representatives opposed a wireless industry push for the FCC to license and sell the upper 6 GHz band, in meetings with aides to all commissioners expect Chairman Ajit Pai. The company uses 7.025-7.075 GHz frequencies as the only feeder link it has to transmit programming to satellite digital audio radio service satellites and control them. “The Commission licensed this spectrum to SiriusXM in 1997 as an essential element of its SDARS systems that are relied on by tens of millions of Americans, including for critical emergency information,” the company said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. The Wi-Fi Alliance also took a shot at the CTIA proposal. “It is remarkably ironic that, at a time when so many Americans are relying on low-cost Wi-Fi for bandwidth intensive telework, tele-school, tele-medicine and other accommodations necessary to meet the national COVID-19 crisis, CTIA argues that the Commission overestimated the need for unlicensed spectrum,” the alliance said: The current crisis “highlights how Americans have come to rely on Wi-Fi connectivity to conduct their lives.” CTIA has "consistently recognized the need for both licensed and unlicensed spectrum, and supports making the lower portion of the 6 GHz band available for unlicensed use,” responded Scott Bergmann, senior vice president-regulatory affairs: “The record in the FCC’s proceeding simply does not support moving forward with all 1,200 MHz of spectrum in the band at this time, and we’ve therefore asked for the FCC to preserve its options regarding the upper portion of the band.” Bergmann said contrary to some comments, CTIA is not asking that DOD has to move out of the upper 6 GHz band.

FCC plans to vote in April to allow Wi-Fi to share the 6 GHz band (see 2003050058) are in doubt because of complications from the coronavirus, Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel said during a New America teleconference Tuesday. Most FCC staffers have been telecommuting since last week.

Protect the 7.025-7.075 GHz band from harmful interference as it moves forward on a 6 GHz order, expected in April, SiriusXM representatives told the FCC. The frequencies offer “the sole feeder link spectrum available to and used by Sirius XM to transmit programming to Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service satellites and control those spacecraft,” the company told International Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff in a call, says a filing Monday in docket 18-295. CTIA urged the FCC to explore licensing spectrum in the upper part of the band (see 2003050058). “Sirius XM emphasized that proponents of possible licensed use of the Upper 6 GHz Band have ignored the fact that SDARS feeder links cannot be relocated to other spectrum or use a different transmission medium,” the filing says.

CTIA said claims in docket 18-295 that it opposes Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band, and that more licensed mid-band spectrum isn’t needed for 5G, aren’t true. “Members are eager to make use of and benefit from additional unlicensed capacity and wider unlicensed channels in the lower 6 GHz band,” CTIA said in a filing posted Monday. The wireless industry also supports “consideration of licensing in the upper portion of the band,” the group said. A licensed spectrum gap will continue even with planned auctions, CTIA said. The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition said the FCC should allow unlicensed operations in the band only with automated frequency control. “No one has yet proposed a methodology that has been proven accurate in estimating propagation loss in the clutter environments where much unlicensed use is likely to occur,” the coalition said.

The FCC should ignore a push by CTIA for licensed use of part of the 6 GHz band (see 2003120065), NCTA said in a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. “The United States needs more unlicensed spectrum in the near term and cannot afford to delay unlicensed access to half of the 6 GHz band in order to consider an ill-conceived, last minute push by CTIA to auction the upper frequencies,” NCTA said. “Next-generation Wi-Fi technology is here: NCTA’s members have debuted Wi-Fi 6 access points, leading smartphone manufacturers have incorporated the technology, and the market expects a deluge of new Wi-Fi 6 devices in the near term.” CTIA didn't comment.

The CTIA push for licensed use of the 6 GHz band continues. Doug Hyslop, vice president-technology and spectrum planning, blogged Thursday that 6 GHz proponents offer contradictory data to justify the need for sharing the entire band. “Cable, Google and Facebook are demanding all 1200 megahertz in the 6 GHz band for free,” he said: “That is twice the international consensus, and is more than four C-Band auctions worth of spectrum. It’s a lot.” With the FCC expected in April to tackle order on the 6 GHz band, a Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council teleconference Thursday heard about cable and other hopes for the spectrum (see 2003120065).

With the FCC expected in April to tackle order on the 6 GHz band, CTIA remains committed to licensed use of part of the band, Jen Oberhausen, director-regulatory affairs, said during a Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council teleconference Thursday. CTIA is fighting what some think is a losing battle to get the FCC to reconsider a plan to open all the spectrum for unlicensed use (see 2003050058).

Federated Wireless extended its spectrum controller platform for use in the 6 GHz band, which the FCC is expected to open for sharing with unlicensed users (see 2003050058). Federated provides similar service for the citizens broadband radio service band. The platform is “in trials … and is expected to be available for commercial use by the end of 2020,” the company said Wednesday.

Broadcom and Intel demoed unlicensed very low-power technology in the 6 GHz band for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr and an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-295. The FCC is expected to consider an order on the spectrum in April (see 2003050058). Broadcom said it showed “how 6 GHz devices can help consumers experience the full power of their home internet connections as wireline providers invest to bring them gigabit broadband” and “the importance of the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi 6 and rapidly enabling 5G services.”

Tech companies opposed a request for a 35-mile radius exclusion zone around RigNet's Gulf of Mexico 6 GHz sites (see 1911180046). “RigNet is incorrect that its exclusion proposal would have little cost,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 17-183: RigNet’s “specialized protection proposal would, in fact, significantly impact consumers nationwide and is completely unnecessary to prevent harmful interference.” Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm were among signers. "Tech companies keep critiquing the scientifically backed and documented concerns that we and others have voiced with their unproven assertions and admonitions that interference won't be that bad,” responded Jamie Barnett, RigNet senior vice president-government service. “They've had plenty of time to provide actual data, so I think the FCC has to conclude that they cannot back up their claims." The same companies challenged data in a January CTIA filing “purporting to describe harmful interference for five real-world cases drawn from a search” of the FCC’s universal licensing system. CTIA’s examples “were not real-world at all” said a second filing: “They were created by cherry picking some information from ULS for real [fixed service] links, ignoring other relevant information, then replacing the rest with CTIA’s preferred values regardless of accuracy. CTIA did not disclose these alterations, much less justify them.” CTIA supports "introducing unlicensed operations in the lower portion of 6 GHz, so long as they protect the critical incumbents in the band,” emailed Scott Bergmann, senior vice president-regulatory affairs. “The record in the FCC’s proceeding makes clear that an Automatic Frequency Coordination mechanism is necessary to protect incumbents from both indoor and outdoor unlicensed operations. It’s time for the unlicensed community to take seriously their obligations to protect incumbents.”