Intel and Broadcom demonstrated Wi-Fi 7 at over-the-air speeds of more than 5 Gbps, they said Thursday. The trial used an Intel Core processor-based laptop with Wi-Fi 7 connected to a Broadcom Wi-Fi 7 access point. The companies called Wi-Fi 7 the platform for "the next 10 years of wireless experiences" requiring higher speeds, lower latency, improved reliability and greater capacity. The next-generation Wi-Fi standard uses wider 320 MHz channels in unlicensed 6 GHz spectrum, higher order 4K QAM data modulation, simultaneous connections across multiple bands with multilink operation and improved channel utilization efficiency with multiresource unit puncturing, they said. Wi-Fi 7 will enable new product classes, including augmented and virtual reality, “ultra-high-definition” 16K media streaming and more responsive and reliable gaming, while supporting large numbers of connected devices on the network, they said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Thursday rejected a petition for rehearing of its decision upholding the FCC’s 5.9 GHz order (see 2208120035), filed by Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN). The group said in its petition that the FCC was wrong in overriding the authority of the transportation secretary. “The Opinion overlooks that FCC’s rulemaking authority is conditional and discretionary, while the Secretary’s is unconditional and mandatory,” AREDN said: “The Secretary’s authority takes precedence in any inconsistency. The Opinion overlooks that the FCC did not give a good reason for changing policy. The Order suggests that change was because the dedicated short-range communication service had not been deployed. However, the Order omits to acknowledge that the FCC itself made deployment difficult or impossible.”

Mobi workers formed a union with the Communications Workers of America after the Hawaii-based wireless carrier voluntarily recognized the union, CWA said Tuesday. “The Mobi workers union is wall-to-wall, representing all 36 frontline and digital workers at the for-profit telecommunications company, including its retail store workers on O’ahu, customer service representatives, and tech workers,” CWA said.

T-Mobile said Wednesday it expanded the footprint of its 5G Home Internet service in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania “where more than three million households still have no access to home broadband.” More than 9 million homes in the region are now eligible for the service, the carrier said.

Information collection requirements in revised TV white spaces rules, approved by commissioners in January (see 2201270034), are effective Thursday, said a notice for that day’s Federal Register.

The FCC Wireless Bureau approved a one-year waiver extension of rules for the citizens broadband radio service allowing the NFL to continue operating a coach-to-coach communications system in the event of a localized internet outage in stadiums during games (see 2207120055). The bureau gave the NFL only part of what it sought. “While we find that a grant of a conditional waiver would be consistent with the underlying purpose of the rule and serve the public interest, we decline to grant the waiver for the requested three-year period,” said a Wednesday order in docket 21-111: “We will instead restrict it to a period of one NFL season as Petitioner has not demonstrated a need for a longer waiver period.”

As the FCC looks more closely at the FirstNet Authority’s pursuit of a 10-year extension of its nationwide Band 14 license (see 2208230076), the National Sheriffs Association (NSA) urged the regulator to examine the relationship between AT&T and the network. “A 25-year, $6.5-billion-dollar government contract should come with an equal level of scrutiny,” NSA said in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 12-94. “While FirstNet was created with a mandate to serve public safety, it has not provided public safety users and the broader public with a clear understanding of its contractual relationship with AT&T, raising questions about where AT&T’s commercial interests end and FirstNet’s responsibilities begin,” NSA said: “We’ve ended up with a FirstNet that resembles more of a black box than a public good. The contract between AT&T and FirstNet should not remain an enigma that simply breeds more questions than answers.” NSA said FirstNet has expanded its definition of first responder too broadly to include “transit agencies, tow truck companies, school districts, airports, television news media outlets, landscaping companies and utility workers.” NSA also questioned whether FirstNet is fully interoperable “with other networks serving public safety.” The Major Cities Chiefs Association also raised questions at the FCC (see 2208250056). “The FirstNet Authority will be following the process outlined in the FCC’s public notice regarding renewal application comments," a spokesperson emailed.

Encina Communications fired back at a tech company filing last month challenging Encina’s proposal to use Part 101 frequency coordination procedures as an alternative to automated frequency coordination (AFC) in the 6 GHz band (see 2208150040). “The filing … is a mere smokescreen and should be disregarded as an attempt to divert attention from the indisputable fact that after two years the industry multi-stakeholder group ... has failed to date to resolve the FCC’s acknowledged technical and operational issues associated with the [AFC] system,” Encina said in a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295.

The Wireless Innovation Forum submitted to the FCC recommendations for public trials and demonstrations as part of an approval of automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band. The proposal is modeled on TV white space coordination. The forum proposed 30 days for trial, followed by seven days for the public to comment and then seven days for AFC system operators to respond. Potential AFC operators would have to provide the interface for the trial or use an “AFC System Public Testing Portal,” said the report, posted Friday in docket 18-295. 6 GHz AFC is less complicated than the white spaces, the report argues, since there are fewer FCC databases and “no requirements for testing manual entry of incumbent data.” The demonstration could “run concurrently with Public Trial” with a “suggested duration” of 30 days.

New Street isn’t forecasting a recession, but if one happens the firm would be “incrementally more positive on T-Mobile and Cable as the economic weakness would likely drive adds at those operators above our already-bullish expectations,” analyst Jonathan Chaplin told investors Tuesday. “T-Mobile has done incredibly well in the value segment in urban markets, but share gains at the high end of the market have been slower going,” he said. “T-Mobile’s lead in 5G network coverage and performance, coupled with households becoming more price sensitive, should accelerate share gains here.” New Street also sees postpaid plans now as a better value than prepaid, a change over past years. “Competition has driven down the price of postpaid plans, while eliminating barriers to adoption (contracts; credit thresholds),” he said: “Service pricing is now similar and, in some cases, lower for unlimited postpaid plans. When you factor in device subsidies, content, and other features included in postpaid plans, they are a much better value than prepaid.” Chaplin noted AT&T has added subscribers in recent quarters, but a question is how many were from Sprint, following that company’s buy by T-Mobile. “The next test for the industry will be how Verizon and AT&T respond if their net adds suffer, now that the Sprint network integration has largely run its course,” he said.