Dell’Oro Group reported a general slowing in momentum in the radio access network market in Q4. The report downgraded its short-term revenue outlook, now expected to be flat in 2023, “as surging investments in India” are offset by a slowdown in North America and China. “The results in the quarter further validate the reduced growth scenario we have discussed now for some time,” said Stefan Pongratz, Dell’Oro vice president. “At the same time, even if the gap between the early adopters and the laggards is generally smaller with 5G than it was with LTE, the state of 5G still varies significantly across the globe.” The firm said Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE and Samsung were the top RAN suppliers in 2022, with Nokia and Samsung showing the most growth.

More than 60 countries have moved to open the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use, and allowing standard-powered devices controlled by automated frequency coordination is an “integral part” of the FCC’s 2020 6 GHz order, Alex Roytblat, Wi-Fi Alliance vice president-worldwide regulatory affairs, said during a webinar Thursday. In November, the FCC conditionally authorized 13 AFC providers to operate in the band (see 2211030066). The webinar, by the alliance, the Wireless Innovation Forum and the 6 GHz Multi-Stakeholder Group, examined technical details of AFC system lab testing. Use of AFC offers “enhanced performance, which is achievable with increased power limits,” Roytblat said. “That is why our industry, collectively, stepped up to facilitate enablement of the 6 GHz standard-power operation.” The Wi-Fi Alliance and WInnForum “invested significant resources, thousands of man-hours, to develop a suite of specifications” for AFC, he said: “These specifications are already enabling development of a vibrant 6 GHz AFC ecosystem and I’m confident that the information that we share will assist regulators and other interested parties in validating AFC capabilities and functionalities.” Industry has spent “a good two years of work on just the testing alone,” said Mark Gibson, CommScope senior director-business development and spectrum policy. Wi-Fi in 6 GHz is “transformative,” with billions of devices likely to be deployed in the next few years, “many of which will be under control of the AFC,” he said: “We’re really working hard to get this right out of the box.”

Updated application fees are effective March 2, the FCC Wireless Bureau said in a Thursday notice. Section 8(b)(1) of the Communications Act requires the commission, in even-numbered years, “to adjust the schedule of application fees to reflect increases or decreases in the Consumer Price Index, rounded to the nearest $5 increment,” the bureau said: “These increases apply to all application fees over $50; any application fee $50 and under, such as Amateur licensing fees, remains the same.” The bureau’s online fee filing guide will be updated by March 2, the notice said.

New Competitive Carriers Association President Tim Donovan met with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, as part of a series of meetings with commissioners (see 2302140064). Among issues raised, CCA discussed “the need to update the 5G Fund to ensure sufficient funding and to modernize the program rules to better promote competition,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-89: “CCA suggested that the 5G Fund eligibility should no longer be tied to 4G maps. CCA also discussed the issues that its members have encountered related to the National Broadband Map data submission and challenge processes.”

The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT) endorsed proposals in an NPRM on more precisely routing wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points (see 2212210047). Comments are due Thursday in docket 18-64. The group “broadly supports” the implementation and use of location-based routing tech and “a more rapid implementation of [next-generation] 911 capabilities that often occur concurrently,” iCERT said: “Implementation of such technologies will dramatically improve emergency response efforts, and we appreciate the efforts of the FCC to facilitate broader implementation of both.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau OK’d seven additional licenses Wednesday in the 900 MHz broadband segment for PDV Spectrum. Three were in Missouri, two in Kansas and one each in Nebraska and California, a notice said. The FCC approved an order in 2020 reallocating a 6 MHz swath in the band for broadband, while keeping 4 MHz for narrowband (see 2005130057).

The Wireless Infrastructure Association and Corning Optical Communications said Tuesday they’re working together to promote careers in fiber. Corning agreed to establish a pre-apprenticeship program, under WIA’s Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program, “to help individuals gain access to meaningful, well-paying careers in the telecommunications industry.” The program focuses on “reaching populations that are currently underrepresented in the workforce,” including women, people of color and veterans, they said.

New Competitive Carriers Association President Tim Donovan met with FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington on the group’s advocacy goals, including fully funding a program to rip and replace unsecure Chinese gear in U.S. networks, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-89. CCA reported on a similar meeting with Commissioner Geoffrey Starks last week (see 2302030048).

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent letters to the nation’s nine largest providers of wireless emergency alerts seeking information on how alerts can start to support languages beyond English and Spanish, said an agency news release. “Today, Wireless Emergency Alerts supports messages only in English and Spanish,” said Rosenworcel, posted in Tuesday’s Daily Digest: That means “many non-English speakers in the United States continue to lack crucial information about imminent dangers and other emergencies. I believe that language should not be a barrier to getting critical information that could save lives.” Rosenworcel also sent a letter to New York State Attorney General Letitia James (D), who raised the issue. The letters to providers ask what their practices are to ensure WEAs are accessible to as many subscribers as possible. “Can machine translation technologies that are available today be used in emergency communications for translating alert messages into the most commonly spoken languages in the U.S.?” the letters ask: “If not, what steps remain to make this a reality? Are there other ways to enhance WEA’s accessibility for those who are not proficient in either English or Spanish?” The letters went to AT&T, Cellcom, C-Spire, Dish Network, Google Fi, Lively, T-Mobile, UScellular and Verizon.

Gaming was the “starting point” for the metaverse, “but we think this is not the end game,” said Mischa Dohler, Ericsson vice president-emerging technologies, during a hybrid IEEE seminar Monday: “It is really that next-generation internet … that immersive, persistent and active internet. That’s what we’re really trying to build.” Despite disagreements about what the metaverse is, “it is very clear that it cannot exist on its own and requires a lot of tech constituents” including 5G and 5G-advanced, virtual and artificial reality, he said. Consumer surveys show people want the kinds of experiences that are part of the metaverse, he said. “Demand is there,” he said. Dohler said he hates shopping at Costco, but if he had AR glasses that would guide him to the products his family needs, “I would subscribe to this for a lot of money.” 5G is robust enough to allow fully immersive experiences by multiple users using the same access point, he said. “Wi-Fi collapses fairly quickly” and can handle one or two VR connections, but “5G can handle that easily,” he said. The challenge is now less on the device and more on the network to provide extremely low latency, with very low jitter, he said. “We understand now why we need to work towards 6G,” he said.