Who gets what accelerated relocation incentive payments in the FCC's C-band auction regime went largely unchanged in the band-clearing order approved 3-2 along party lines Friday (see 2002280005), said Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. Big rewrites of the draft order weren't expected (see 2002270048). The meeting was at times contentious, with pointed Republican and Democratic statements. Incumbent small satellite operators (SSO) plan to go to court.

The Wireless ISP Association told the FCC it should ignore an effort to license part of the 6 GHz spectrum, being examined for unlicensed use. “CTIA is attempting to resurrect study of licensed spectrum in this band well after the Commission has made clear that the exclusive focus of this proceeding is to enable unlicensed services in this band,” WISPA said, posted Thursday in docket 18-295. Comments offer “an extensive record detailing how making 5925-7125 MHz available for unlicensed use would have numerous positive, critical effects,” the group said.

Two House Commerce Committee Republicans, Billy Long of Missouri and Susan Brooks of Indiana, asked FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to consider licensed use (see 1912230035) of the 6 GHz band. “Given the importance of 5G to our economic and national security futures, we ask you to consider the feasibility of multiple allocations of the 6 GHz band, including whether it best serves the public interest to make a portion of this valued resource available for licensed commercial development, particularly if we can offer the American taxpayer additional" revenue, said Wednesday's letter.

CTIA urged the FCC to launch a Further NPRM on licensing the 6.525-7.125 GHz band for flexible-use services and moving incumbent fixed service operations to other spectrum. NTIA has been scoping the 7125-8400 MHz band (see 1908010065). What CTIA seeks could be difficult since federal agencies, particularly DOD, are active in the band (see 1912230035). CTIA isn’t giving up and filed a Commsearch report saying the move is possible. “Merely matching other countries’ spectrum investments, however, will not be enough for the U.S. to lead in our new 5G economy because these nations are not finished,” CTIA said in docket 18-295, posted Tuesday. “Other leading countries are on track to make available four times as much licensed mid-band spectrum as the U.S. by the end of 2020, with nations like Japan and South Korea pushing ahead with plans for additional mid-band spectrum in the next few years.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., urged the FCC to “resolve” consideration of Ligado's L-band license modifications. She urged all federal agencies to “come to the table” on reassessing their spectrum needs to help bolster the U.S. position in the race against other countries for dominance in 5G development. FCC proceedings on a C-band auction plan (see 2002250076) and TV white spaces NPRM (see 2002250068) also came up at Tuesday's American Consumer Institute event.

Less Government asked to be taken off a Friday letter to the FCC supporting an NPRM to allow sharing in the 6 GHz band with Wi-Fi and other unlicensed uses (see 2002140052), said a Tuesday filing in docket 18-295. Seton Motley, president of Less Government, “indicated he signed the letter in error and has removed his name from the list of supporters/signatories,” the filing said.

The Center for Individual Freedom, Taxpayers Protection Alliance and eight other free-market groups wrote the FCC Friday in support of the NPRM to allow sharing the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed uses (see 1810230038). The proposal “would enable massive technological innovation by designating a highly underutilized portion of radio spectrum for wider and more efficient use,” the groups said in a letter to Chairman Ajit Pai. Utilities and some others are “claiming that shared use of the spectrum will lead to harmful interference, and are conjuring up extreme hypothetical examples,” but “there are too many benefits to opening up this valuable spectrum to take these extreme warnings at face value.” Also signing were Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, Discovery Institute, Innovation Defense Foundation, Innovation Economy Institute, Institute for Liberty, Institute for Policy Innovation, Less Government and the Market Institute. “More unlicensed spectrum for next-generation Wi-Fi would deliver faster speeds … and be a bridge to the next generation” of IoT, augmented reality and virtual reality devices for consumers, the groups said. It “can help break down digital divides.” Though “some incumbent users of the 6 GHz spectrum paint a bleak and fearsome picture of sharing this spectrum, technology already successfully in use can enable coexistence,” the groups said. Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., supported the NPRM last week, as did tech companies (see 2002120055). The Wireless ISP Association opposed CTIA’s continued push for the FCC to allocate the band's upper part for exclusive-use licenses (see 2002100039). CTIA “is attempting to resurrect study of licensed spectrum in this band well after the Commission has made clear that the exclusive focus of this proceeding is to enable unlicensed services,” said WISPA Vice President-Policy Louis Peraertz in its filing to docket 18-295. CTIA “ignores the benefit to rural Americans of use of this spectrum for point-to-point backhaul and Internet connectivity, and waves away the significant practical difficulty of clearing extensive incumbent fixed point-to-point microwave use. ... It provides no specifics as to where operations would be located, or even any general assessment of the impact on incumbents." CTIA didn't comment.

Broadcom announced what it's calling the industry's first Wi-Fi 6E client device ahead of FCC-expected allocation of some of the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi. The BCM4389, targeted at flagship smartphones, will deliver over 2 Gbps of real-world speeds and up to five times better battery life, said the company Thursday. The chipset is said to improve audio performance and range for connected Bluetooth accessories. The BCM4389 uses a tri-band simultaneous connectivity architecture, adding to Wi-Fi and MIMO Bluetooth radios a third ultra-low-power independent radio to optimize Wi-Fi and Bluetooth performance. Broadcom expects phones with the chipset to communicate with home routers, residential gateways, enterprise access points, and augmented- and virtual-reality devices.

CEO Borje Ekholm and other Ericsson executives told FCC members of both parties that "more mid-band spectrum is necessary," and backed some of the FCC's C-band moves. The draft C-band order "acknowledges the importance of large bandwidths to support 5G," the company said, posted Thursday in docket 18-122, on meetings a week earlier with Chairman Ajit Pai (here) and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (here) and their aides: "100 MHz channels are essential to deliver a high-performance experience." Licensed mid-band spectrum in the upper 6 GHz band "is a priority for Ericsson," which doesn't "see a shift to unlicensed spectrum as 5G is rolled out given the performance demands seen for industrial use cases." The company would like 100 MHz-wide channels, including in the C band, emailed the filing's author, Vice President-Government Affairs and Public Policy Jared Carlson. On why the disclosure was late, he said that "the filing just took a little longer than expected." Commissioners vote Feb. 28 on the C-band order (see 2002110041). Regulatory action on 6 GHz is expected later this year (see 2002120055).

Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., urged the FCC Wednesday to act on allowing sharing of the 6 GHz band for unlicensed Wi-Fi use. Top tech-sector companies -- including Amazon, Facebook and Google -- also jointly urged the FCC to designate 1,200 MHz of spectrum on the band for unlicensed use. The companies cautioned against allocating the band's upper part for exclusive-use licenses, as CTIA and others have proposed (see 1902190005). Ericsson lobbied lawmakers last year to file and pass legislation that would require the FCC to adopt such a plan (see 1910090051). The FCC should make the 6 GHz available for unlicensed use “in a way that protects incumbent users operating in the band from harmful interference,” McNerney and Griffith wrote Chairman Ajit Pai. “The 6 GHz band’s greatest potential would be realized by unlocking all 1200 MHz of the band for unlicensed use -- this would foster innovation and greatly benefit American consumers and our nation’s economy.” Licensing “a portion of this band would undermine, not support, our next-generation wireless future,” Amazon and others wrote Pai, posted Wednesday. “Opening the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use is also the fastest way to get additional spectrum suitable for next-generation wireless into the hands of American consumers. In contrast, relocating 6 GHz incumbents to a federal band that has not yet been studied for sharing and then proceeding to auction ... will take years and significantly disrupt incumbents.” The group of pro-sharing entities also includes the American Library Association, Benton Foundation, Boingo, Broadcom, Charter Communications, Cisco, Comcast, HP, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, NCTA, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and the Wi-Fi Alliance. Boeing separately supported unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band above a 10,000-foot altitude, saying interference with other aircraft systems “would be negligible.” No “reason exists to prohibit the operation of unlicensed 6 GHz devices on aircraft or to require such devices to employ” automated frequency coordination technologies, the manufacturer filed in docket 18-295.