Lobbying continued up to the sunshine notice period on the FCC’s proposed draft on the lower and upper 12 GHz bands, set for an FCC commissioner vote Thursday (see 2304270077). Representatives of Intelsat, SES Americom and New Skies Satellites met with staff for all four commissioners seeking revisions. The satellite operators asked for language in the NPRM “to more accurately reflect current and immediately deployable potential future satellite use of the 12.7-13.25 GHz band.” They warned “continued erosion of access to spectrum for satellite services -- particularly when demand is increasing rapidly -- will impede the United States competitiveness in the global space economy,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-443. CTIA representatives met with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, also on the upper part of the band. CTIA supports “proposals to allocate flexible, exclusive-use licenses in the 13 GHz band, and enable providers to transmit at high power levels, which would be key to unlocking the benefits of the … band,” the group said. Doing so is important to a spectrum pipeline, CTIA said. CTIA also expressed support for requiring broadcast auxiliary service licensees “to certify the accuracy of their licenses and confirm whether their facilities are operating as authorized, and suggested extending this requirement to Cable Television Relay Service licensees in order to further efforts to free up the band for more efficient and intensive use.” Go Long Wireless President Tim Meyer spoke with aides to the four commissioners about “the promise of fixed wireless in the 12.2-.12.7 GHz Band.” Go Long “has been working for some time on deployment options, including the development of proprietary, two-way radio equipment” and “appreciates and looks forward to the opportunity to comment on the issues posed in the Further Notice portion,” the company said. The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance asked for tweaks, including “crisper” language on unlicensed use of the spectrum “to make it consistent” with the commission’s 2020 6 GHz order.
Howard Buskirk
Howard Buskirk, Executive Senior Editor, joined Warren Communications News in 2004, after covering Capitol Hill for Telecommunications Reports. He has covered Washington since 1993 and was formerly executive editor at Energy Business Watch, editor at Gas Daily and managing editor at Natural Gas Week. Previous to that, he was a staff reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Greenville News. Follow Buskirk on Twitter: @hbuskirk
Tower company CEOs expect a strong 2023, with 5G driving carrier investments, and the major carriers all building out mid-band spectrum. Meanwhile, a CTIA official said Thursday the key to the U.S. leading on 6G is getting 5G policy right.
Private cellular 5G networks are starting to move beyond the early hype, experts said during a LightReading webinar Wednesday. Experts said private networks won’t always replace but will often complement Wi-Fi networks.
CTIA urged the FCC to put the onus on covered service providers (CSPs) rather than originating service providers (OSPs) if the agency imposes 988 outage reporting obligations, the subject of a January NPRM (see 2301040056). “As 988 communications are routed centrally to a single, nationwide response point, unlike 911 communications, which are routed to local Public Safety Answering Points, it is unclear how OSPs could provide actionable information about local outages to the nationwide 988 Lifeline or other stakeholders,” CTIA said, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 23-5. AT&T agreed rules “must reflect the fundamental differences in service architecture between 911 and 988.” Competitive Carriers Association members don’t “oppose some level of 988 outage reporting and notification,” but also don’t “support duplicative or potentially confusing efforts,” CCA said: If the FCC imposes a 988 outage notification requirement on OSPs, “in many cases, a 30-minute timeframe would be unreasonable and unrealistic, particularly for OSPs utilizing vendors for 988 solutions. Any 988 outage reporting requirement should enable realistic compliance.” The National Emergency Number Association said the FCC rightly proposes rules based on 911 outage reporting requirements approved last year (see 2211170051). The FCC should also require that PSAPs be alerted of 988 outages, NENA said: “If 988 service is not available to a person having a mental health crisis, and they do not have knowledge of an alternative means such as dedicated online chat services, then they may decide to dial 9-1-1 instead.” The group said the 988 system should plan to eventually migrate to next-generation 911 technologies “as a matter of building a more reliable, equitable life-saving service for people with mental health crises.”
The FCC should drop any plan to revoke existing equipment authorizations as part of the ongoing push to make networks safer, industry groups agreed in reply comments on an FCC Further NPRM (see 23040700500). The Competitive Carriers Association, CTA, NCTA and the Telecommunications Industry Association were among those raising concerns about retroactive revocations. Initial comments also urged caution (see 2304100057). Most comments were posted Tuesday in docket 21-232.
Consumer and public interest groups want the FCC to get more aggressive in clamping down on illegal and unwanted robotexts to consumers, according to comments on a March Further NPRM (see 2303160061). CTIA said robotexts and robocalls are inherently different, and extending the same rules to both doesn’t make sense. USTelecom said the FCC could take some steps but should proceed with caution. Comments were due Monday in docket 21-402.
Dish Network is better positioned than its competitors, with the most advanced wireless network available, Chairman Charlie Ergen said during a call with investors Monday as the company reported Q1 earnings. Ergen also said he's disappointed the FCC didn’t reallocate the lower 12 GHz band for 5G (see 23042700774). Dish reported customer losses across most of its businesses, finishing the quarter with 7.91 million wireless subscribers, a net loss of 81,000 in the quarter, with churn of 4.57%. The company lost 343,000 in the year-ago quarter.
The U.S. Supreme Court is difficult to predict, but lawyers see reason to believe the court will use an upcoming case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, to clarify the status of the Chevron doctrine, legal experts told us. The doctrine underlies the authority of independent agencies like the FCC and the FTC. The court last week agreed to hear the maritime case (docket 22-451). The court hasn’t cited Chevron for several years, though it continues to be cited by lower courts.
Some of the most important decisions to be made at this year's World Radiocommunication Conference will be on future agenda items, industry officials agreed during the second part of an FCBA webinar Thursday (see 2305040086). A bifurcated approach, with separate committees developing industry and government positions, may no longer make sense in a 5G world, they said. WRC starts Nov. 20 in Dubai.
Commenters opposed Stadler Signalling Deutschland’s request at the FCC (see 2304040055) to operate its automatic train protection system in the 100 kHz band at higher power levels than FCC rules allow. Comments were due at the FCC Thursday in docket 23-133. Hellen Systems raised concerns about protecting long-range navigation (Loran) and enhanced-Loran (eLoran) systems. “Stadler’s primary argument in requesting this waiver is that LORAN C, which operates in the 90-110 kHz band, is ‘obsolete’ and therefore no longer needed,” Hellen said: “This, unfortunately, is a gross mischaracterization of the status of LORAN technology and its current place as a compelling radio navigation solution to meet our growing resilient Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) needs.” ELoran “is very much alive internationally and under serious consideration by multiple departments of the federal government for use domestically” to supplement GPS, the company said. “While the United States terminated its Loran-C system in 2010, interest in using the spectrum for radionavigation remains,” the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation said. Russia and Saudi Arabia still operate Loran-C radionavigation systems and eLoran is used in the U.K., China and South Korea, the group said: “The applicant has not made a compelling case that it should no longer be reserved for that purpose, nor that other frequencies are unsuitable and/or unavailable for applicant’s desired purpose.” Continental Electronics also raised Loran concerns. ELoran “remains relevant and is not obsolete,” the company said: “There is government wide and international interest in pursuing its development and deployment.” UrsaNav cited use across the world of Loran technology. “The 90-110 kHz spectrum is internationally reserved,” UrsaNav said: “Although use of Loran is in transition globally, several nations continue to operate Loran-C and/or its successor, Enhanced Loran.” Microchip Technology opposed the waiver, saying use of the band as proposed “could interfere with eLoran signal reception, which would undermine the ability for eLoran to serve as a back-up to GPS for national critical infrastructure and other PNT applications.”