Lawmakers and officials expect that long-standing DOD objections to repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band and other military-controlled frequencies will remain a flashpoint in negotiations during the new Congress as GOP leaders eye using an upcoming budget reconciliation package to move on spectrum legislation. Observers eyed potential friction from Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., if she succeeds in her bid to become Senate Communications Subcommittee chair (see 2412180052) given her well-known disagreement with new Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on DOD spectrum issues.

NTIA’s Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee may have fallen by the wayside, with many questions about its future unanswered heading into the second Donald Trump presidency. Several CSMAC members told us they reapplied for membership but have heard little in response.

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., confirmed to us Wednesday she has changed her mind and now wants Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to pick her as Communications Subcommittee chair when he takes over the panel in January. Fischer previously said she wasn’t interested in taking over as lead Communications Republican from current ranking member John Thune, R-S.D. (see 2402290057), who will become Senate majority leader in January. Fischer didn’t explain why she now wants to lead the subcommittee but indicated “we’re working it out” now with Cruz. “Obviously, I’m the senior” Republican on Senate Commerce after Cruz, Thune and Armed Services Committee ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi and therefore would traditionally get the Communications gavel because “I’ve asked to have it,” Fischer said. “That’s how it works.” Fischer is senior to Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., whose presence as a fill-in for Thune during a Senate Communications hearing last week provoked discussion conversation about whether he was in line for the subpanel gavel (see 2412170053). A Fischer elevation to Senate Communications chair could put her in conflict with Cruz on some spectrum legislative issues. Fischer, who's also a senior Armed Services member, opposes using a spectrum package to mandate an FCC sale of any portion of the DOD-controlled 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2403210063). Cruz favors a lower 3 GHz sale.

CTIA announced Thursday that President-CEO Meredith Baker will step down next year, with the expiration of her contract. Former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a partner at private-equity firm Searchlight Capital, is among the early rumored candidates to succeed her. Speculation has also surrounded Brad Gillen, a CTIA executive vice president who joined the group 10 years ago and also worked for Baker when she was an FCC commissioner. Pai declined comment Thursday.

AT&T and CTIA urged that the FCC rethink citizens broadband radio service rules and questioned the band's success, filing reply comments to an August NPRM (see 2411070032). But most commenters said the FCC should only tweak the band. CBRS advocates largely defended the model as a sharing success story. Interest in the proceeding was strong, with more than two dozen reply comments posted as of Friday.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approved Axon Enterprise’s request for a waiver, allowing it to market three investigative and surveillance devices to law enforcement agencies. The devices would operate at higher power levels than allowed under FCC rules in heavily used 5 GHz spectrum. The Axon waiver has proven controversial (see 2403080044). The company proposed in July that its devices operate primarily using channels at the upper and lower edges of the U-NII-3 band, attempting to address the concerns of Wi-Fi advocates (see 2407310049). “Based on the record of this proceeding and the above analysis, we are convinced that the Axon devices can be operated without unduly jeopardizing Wi-Fi operations,” OET said Thursday. It noted that first responders will use the devices in emergencies, for short periods and mostly indoors. “We recognize the concerns from Wi-Fi operators that, under the terms of the initial waiver request, Axon’s devices could still lead to Wi-Fi interference," the order said: “However, we note that Axon … has indicated that it would be willing to accept waiver conditions and limitations appropriate to the limited scope of its product’s use.”

NTIA on Tuesday released the first of the band-specific reports called for in the national spectrum strategy (see 2403120056) on the 37 GHz band. Due last month, the report was developed with DOD and recommends a federal and nonfederal co-primary sharing framework for the lower 37 GHz band.

Tapped to lead the FCC during the second Trump administration (see 2411170001), FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is expected to be as aggressive as possible on spectrum and wireless siting issues, industry experts said. During President-elect Donald Trump's first administration, then-Chairman Ajit Pai made Carr lead commissioner on wireless siting.

The Wireless Future Program at New America is calling on policymakers to take a harder look at rules for indoor-only use of spectrum bands, as the administration studies the future of the lower 3 and 7/8 GHz bands. Michael Calabrese, director of the program, said the group filed its report at the NTIA, at the agency's urging, as part of a multistakeholder review process last month and Monday released a public version. “The potential benefits of different rules for indoor-only use are becoming more evident,” the report said, noting the FCC’s 2020 decision to authorize low-power, indoor (LPI) use across the 6 GHz band. Incumbent licensees already are using the spectrum, including more than 50,000 high-power fixed microwave links, the report said: LPI use is limited “to roughly one-fourth the standard power of Wi-Fi, yet is considered extremely useful since the vast majority of internet data (including at least 80% of mobile device data traffic) is transmitted indoors and over Wi-Fi.” LPI in 6 GHz “highlights the potential to authorize indoor-only use in many other bands where users comply with power, device form factor, database coordination, or other technical requirements necessary to protect the primary licensees from harmful interference,” New America said. While LPI in 6 GHz is authorized under Part 15 of the commission’s rules, “LPI can be adopted as part of a licensed-by-rule framework or licensed exclusively to select categories of facilities (such as factories and schools),” the report said. It notes DOD concerns about sharing the lower 3 GHz band, which the military uses broadly. “Similarly, large portions of the 7 GHz band” are “currently used by sensitive military systems in the United States and in Europe (e.g., NATO operations in 7250–7750 MHz).” New America points to five frequency ranges that may be particularly suitable for LPI use: 3100–3450, 7125–7250, 7250–7750 and 2900–3100 MHZ, and 10–10.5 GHz. Of lower 3 GHz it says that “while a dynamic coordination system should enable DOD to share at least portions of the band for low-power use outdoors … a broader underlay authorization for LPI use should be considered as an option for this band.”

The Biden administration is making progress on each of the five bands it's studying as part of the national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048), Shiva Goel, NTIA senior adviser-spectrum policy, said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar late Thursday. Other speakers said the government must make available more high-powered licensed spectrum to ensure the nation doesn’t fall behind China and other competitors.