Apple and Meta Platforms asked the FCC to move forward on a new geofenced variable power device class with geofencing restrictions in the 6 GHz band. The geofenced devices would be able to operate at higher power levels than other very-low-power devices (see 2506160018).

Representatives of the Wi-Fi Alliance met with FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty to support a proposal that the commission authorize very-low-power operations at higher-power spectral density levels in the 6 GHz band. The group also raised concerns about NextNav’s proposal to reallocate the 900 MHz band to support its 5G-based positioning, navigation and timing service, said a filing Tuesday in docket 18-295. The issues raised mirror those discussed in the alliance's meetings in June with aides to the other commissioners (see 2506300040).

The Wireless Innovation Forum released last week “Developments Towards a More Robust and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Network,” a member-approved document that calls for improvements in sharing systems, including in the citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) and for 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC). The document was written by a working group that WInnForum launched a year ago (see 2408220049).

Representatives of the 5G Automotive Association met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty on the group’s concerns about interference caused by out-of-band emissions (OOBE) from very-low-power and potential new geofenced variable-power devices in the 6 GHz band to cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) operations in the 5.9 GHz band.

Public Knowledge and New America’s Open Technology Institute urged the FCC to move to a modern spectrum-sharing framework, with an automated, third-party database, to manage the lower 37 GHz band. The groups this week filed joint comments in docket 24-243 on an April Further NPRM from the FCC (see 2507150060).

President Donald Trump signed off Friday on the revised budget reconciliation package, previously known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, restoring the FCC’s spectrum auction authority for the first time since it lapsed in March 2023. The measure, which ultimately mirrored the Senate’s version, mandates an 800 MHz spectrum auction pipeline but exempts the 3.1-3.45 GHz and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands from potential reallocation (see 2507030056). The National Emergency Number Association and WISPA separately aired grievances with Congress failing to act on the groups’ policy priorities via reconciliation.

House action on the Senate-cleared version of the HR-1 budget reconciliation package, previously known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, appeared in doubt Wednesday afternoon amid resistance from several GOP lawmakers. Critics of Senate Commerce Committee Republicans’ HR-1 spectrum language held out hope amid the ruckus that lawmakers would make additional bands ineligible for potential reallocation. The Senate narrowly passed its HR-1 language Tuesday (see 2507010070).

The Senate narrowly passed an amended version Tuesday of the HR-1 budget reconciliation package, formerly named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with a proposal for an 800 MHz spectrum auction pipeline but without a controversial Commerce Committee proposal for a voluntary freeze on enforcing state-level AI rules. The chamber voted 99-1 to strip out that language after a deal between Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. (see 2506300072), collapsed Monday night.

Wi-Fi Alliance CEO Kevin Robinson and others from the group met with aides to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez to warn that NextNav’s proposals for the 900 MHz band are a threat to “Wi-Fi HaLow,” a Wi-Fi technology operating in the band. The technology is “being used to deliver robust, long-range connectivity for a wide range of industrial and consumer [IoT] applications,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 25-110. “We expressed concern that the use of Wi-Fi HaLow devices is imperiled by NextNav’s proposal to reallocate the 900 MHz band to support its 5G-based alternative positioning, navigation, and timing” service (see 2503030023).

The proposed restoration of the FCC's spectrum authority coming out of the Senate Commerce Committee (see 2506250054) isn't ideal, "but half a loaf and all that," consultant Richard Bennett wrote last week. A better pipeline would have made the whole 3 GHz band available for civilian use, but the 800 MHz of federal and nonfederal spectrum it makes available "will probably hold us over for 5-7 years, at which time we can begin to create a pathway for the next generation of mobile broadband." Unaddressed is a clawback of the overallocation of the upper 6 GHz and lower 7 GHz bands, Bennett said. "This would be a good candidate for reassignment, obviously, but nothing good happens in DC without a fight."