The federal government is increasingly rife with spectrum fiefdoms among agencies, contrary to the FCC's core purpose as a centralized point of spectrum policy decision-making, Commissioner Brendan Carr said Wednesday during the Practicing Law Institute's annual telecom policy and regulation seminar. He said updating memorandums of understanding would help, but ultimately there must be deference to the expert agency making a final decision. Such "devolution" of spectrum policy will be a permanent fixture, but that trend needs some reversing, he said.
Matt Daneman
Matt Daneman, Senior Editor, covers pay TV, cable broadband, satellite, and video issues and the Federal Communications Commission for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications in 2015 after more than 15 years at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, where he covered business among other issues. He also was a correspondent for USA Today. You can follow Daneman on Twitter: @mdaneman
The FAA warned about flights being diverted or grounded because of 5G C-band wireless broadband signals. Satellite and network experts told us the regulatory clash between the FAA and FCC over 5G in the C band reflects in part the lack of a permanent head of NTIA to broker an agreement.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit judges evinced some skepticism about standing issues and Viasat's broad read of the National Environmental Policy Act's (NEPA) jurisdiction, during docket 21-1123 oral argument Friday on challenges to the FCC's April OK of a license modification for SpaceX (see 2108090022). A lawyer in the proceeding told us it's not clear how soon the three-judge panel might rule.
Numerous nations have a regulatory focus on the 6 GHz band now, before the band is also center of attention at the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23), international regulators said Thursday on a Wireless Innovation Forum 2021 panel. Several countries said they're looking at technological means to better allow spectrum sharing, particularly of the 6 GHz band.
Planned satellite mega constellations could face headwinds from regulators around the globe that have increased concerns about such systems, satellite experts said Wednesday during a Global VSAT Forum webinar. OneWeb Government, Regulatory and Engagement Chief Chris McLaughlin said the biggest proposed mega constellations could see regulatory challenges based on their sheer size. "It beggars belief anyone will allow 30,000 satellites," he said. Another limiting factor for mega constellations will be lack of enough rockets to launch all the satellites, he said. Kymeta Product Management Director David Fotheringham said many of the nascent operators pitching big constellations will never come to fruition, but there will still be a huge increase in the number of satellites in orbit. McLaughlin said regulators globally are trying to make more spectrum used by satellite operators available for 5G, making it increasingly important that satellite plays a role in 5G. He said trying to protect the 28 GHz band for satellite use in countries looking to open it to terrestrial mobile has been complicated by the U.K. letting it go for terrestrial use years ago. Fotheringham said satellite operators should make a concerted effort to keep their current spectrum rights. He said satellite communications in the U.S. have already become secondary to 5G in the Ka band. Expect more satellite industry consolidation, speakers said. McLaughlin said increasing interest rates could affect the expansion plans of satellite companies. He said the investment community could increase M&A activity in the satcom universe. He questioned whether the Viasat/Inmarsat deal (see 2111080038) will happen because it could face opposition from the U.K. government loath to lose a satellite operator. A Viasat spokesperson emailed that it, Inmarsat and the U.K. government "have been in discussions as part of the usual process [and] conversations have been constructive and completely cooperative."
Finding ways to make parts of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band available for nonfederal use, as laid out in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (see 2111120050), faces a variety of big hurdles, spectrum sharing experts said Tuesday at the annual Wireless Innovation Forum. NTIA Office of Spectrum Management Executive Director Scott Patrick said relations with the FCC "are in a nice spot right now," with commitments high in the Biden administration that agencies understand the positions of other agencies, and with plans for more concrete actions once NTIA and FCC leaders are confirmed. The two agencies collaborate a "tremendous amount" daily, said FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Deputy Director Ira Keltz, saying the agencies may not always agree but "the working relationship is good."
Ten of the 11 replacement satellites scheduled to be launched in 2022 by Intelsat and SES as part of the C-band clearing could be operational by year's end, the companies' officials told us. Both companies said the pandemic affected some suppliers and their subcontractors, but those suppliers found workarounds and delays haven't been material delays. Intelsat Space Systems Senior Vice President Jean-Luc Froeliger said there were concerns early during the pandemic about contractors being hit by COVID-19, but almost all the components, coming from suppliers around the globe, have been delivered to manufacturers Maxar and Northrop Grumman. He said ultimately the work was delayed maybe a month. The FCC's 2020 C-band clearing order set a Dec. 5, 2023, clearing deadline (see 2003040042).
Saying they're sensitive to the FAA wanting more analysis about possible 5G impacts to radio altimeter performance and air safety, AT&T and Verizon on Wednesday told the FCC they would adopt a series of temporary voluntary power limits and antenna restrictions on C-band deployments near airports. That commitment ends July 6 "unless credible evidence exists that real-world interference would occur if the mitigations were relaxed," they said in a docket 18-122 letter Wednesday. After an FAA air safety warning about 5G use on the C band, AT&T and Verizon earlier this month agreed to a one-month delay to the first phase of deployment to allow an agency probe of altimeter issues (see 2111040042).
Many employers in the communications universe don't see the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's COVID-19 vaccination emergency temporary standard (ETS) released earlier this month having a big impact on their workplace policies, as vaccination requirements are already the norm. The ETS would require workplaces of more than 100 people to mandate either vaccinations for their workers or weekly COVID-19 testing. Some companies pointed to September's executive order (EO) requiring federal contractors mandate vaccinations for their workforces and said they would comply.
Pointing to enterprise traffic increasingly being wireless, Ericsson plans to boost its presence in related cloud-based offerings with buying Vonage for $6.2 billion, announced Monday. Analysts evinced some skepticism about the deal, which Ericsson said should conclude in the first half of 2022.