APCO representatives met with aides to the FCC commissioners, except Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, on the public safety group's top issues. Among the topics was the 6 GHz band, said a filing posted Tuesday in 18-295 and other dockets. “APCO remains concerned that the expansion of unlicensed devices in the 6 GHz band presents a substantial threat of interference to public safety,” it said: “Real-world testing has raised doubts over the technical assumptions underlying the Commission’s decision to open the band.” APCO also remains concerned about wireless 911 location accuracy. “Further Commission action is needed to improve the transparency and reliability of testing to evaluate location technologies and to provide stronger requirements for carriers to deploy methods, several of which are feasible today, to derive dispatchable location,” APCO said.

The House is set to vote as soon as Tuesday night on a revised version of the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) under suspension of the rules, the office of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday night. The House Commerce Committee-cleared measure would elevate the NTIA administrator from assistant secretary to undersecretary of Commerce. It also proposes other steps aimed at improving coordination of federal spectrum (see 2307270063). Chamber leaders pulled HR-4510 from consideration in early March amid objections from leaders of the House Armed Services Committee over the fight between NTIA and DOD about allowing 5G use of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2403060062). In addition, the House will consider the Senate-passed FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-3935) amid questions about whether backers of additional funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program will attempt to attach money for those initiatives to it. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and other senators unsuccessfully sought an amendment aimed at including $6 billion for ACP and $3.08 billion for rip and replace in HR-3935 (see 2405100046).

Backers of stopgap funding for the FCC’s ailing affordable connectivity program and Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program believe they made progress last week toward their goal of firming up the initiatives even as a bid attaching funds to the FAA reauthorization legislation appeared all but dead. Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., emerged from the chamber Thursday night touting commitments from leaders to move forward on allocating the proposed money even as the body voted 88-4 to pass the FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-3935) without funding language he and others sought (see 2405070083).

Broadcom, Wi-Fi Alliance Services and the Wireless Broadband Alliance offered the FCC an update on changes to power spectral density rules for automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band, which the three proposed in March (see 2404150050). The filing, posted Tuesday in docket 21-352, asks the Office of Engineering and Technology to “promptly approve the proposed code modification for our systems so that they can continue to perform as the Commission anticipated while accounting more accurately for the permitted PSD levels.”

Among other objections to an FCC proposal to expand the parts of the 6 GHz band where very-low power (VLP) devices can operate without coordination, and make other changes to the rules (see 2404290035), NAB stressed the importance of protecting broadcasters' use of the band for electronic news-gathering. “Allowing unrestrained VLP operation by millions -- or even billions -- of unlicensed devices amounts to letting the metaphorical ‘genie out of the bottle,’ potentially creating a radio frequency interference environment that cannot be controlled,” NAB said. Sirius XM said its satellite digital audio radio service business “cannot operate without reliable access to the 7.025-7.075 GHz band to uplink programming for delivery to listeners and control its spacecraft.” Proponents haven’t demonstrated a need to expand the bands where VLP devices can operate, Sirius XM said: “The public interest in protecting service to tens of millions of satellite radios -- both subscribed and unsubscribed -- far outweighs any speculative benefit from adding marginally to the spectrum that can be used for outdoor VLP devices.” The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition said the record “remains insufficient to move forward with the Commission’s proposals at this time.” Comments in favor of changing the rules “were either non-substantive or rehashed information previously submitted to the record,” the group said. The 5G Automotive Alliance said out-of-band emissions limits of -37 dBm/MH are needed to protect cellular vehicle-to-everything operations in the 5.9 GHz band. “The record in this proceeding demonstrates commenters’ well-founded concerns about VLP devices interfering with C-V2X operations and the possible dire consequences of such interference,” the alliance said. Comments were posted this week in docket 18-295.

Developing rules for opening the lower 3 GHz band, a top focus of U.S. carriers (see 2404080063), won’t be easy, Monisha Ghosh, engineering professor at the University of Notre Dame and former FCC chief technologist, said during an RCR Wireless virtual test and management forum Tuesday. Much discussion at the forum centered on the challenges of performance testing in evolving 5G networks.

Wi-Fi advocates and 6 GHz incumbents disagreed sharply on an FCC proposal to expand the parts of the 6 GHz band where very-low power (VLP) devices can operate without coordination, beyond the initial 850 MHz commissioners approved last year (see [Ref:2310190054). In one development of note, tech companies saw support for a proposal to create a geofenced variable power (GVP) device class. Replies were posted Monday in docket 18-295.

The Senate Commerce Committee confirmed Thursday the panel plans to mark up the draft Spectrum and National Security Act and five other tech and telecom-focused bills during a Wednesday executive session, as expected (see 2404240074). The 108-page draft measure from committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., would restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through Sept. 30, 2029, also as expected (see 2403210063). The proposal also provides a new vehicle for allocating stopgap funding for the commission’s ailing affordable connectivity program amid a delay in advancing a separate House-side bid to force a floor vote on providing that money, lobbyists told us.

Companies offering automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band told the FCC they have launched a portal for reporting interference. The companies said the portal should satisfy a requirement that the Office of Engineering and Technology imposed. “We have committed significant effort and resources to develop an efficient, centralized means for authorized 6 GHz incumbents to report potential harmful-interference events,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-352. “All information submitted through the Portal is automatically shared with the approved 6 GHz AFC system operators” and the FCC, including the Enforcement Bureau, the filling said. Broadcom, Comsearch, Federated Wireless, Qualcomm, Sony Group, Wi-Fi Alliance Services and the Wireless Broadband Alliance signed it.

AT&T urged the FCC to establish requirements for how interference is addressed in the 6 GHz band as automated frequency coordination systems open (see 2404050012). “The interference reporting and resolution system should not impose barriers or difficult validation requirements for incumbents to report interference” and “should be regularly publicized” by AFC systems to incumbents, said a filing Tuesday in docket 21-352. The reporting system should be available at all times, AT&T said: “In cases where interference cannot be narrowed to a specific AFC, AFC systems should be prepared to serially and sequentially increase the protection for the victim link in order to isolate coordination problems.”