FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr said they're awaiting an Office of Engineering and Technology analysis of whether the 12 GHz band can open to 5G service. There has been heavy lobbying by proponents and opponents, but "this continues to come down to the engineering" and OET's take, Carr said Friday after the agency's August meeting (see 2208050023). He said he's "open to landing this in a win-win situation." "It's an engineering matter," Rosenworcel said, saying she's relying on OET "to help show us the way forward." Consultancy RKF Engineering stands by its technical studies on satellite sharing of the band with 5G, including its finding that such 5G deployments wouldn't affect at least 99.85% of non-geostationary orbit operations in the band, RS Access said in docket 20-443, recapping meetings CEO Noah Campbell had with aides to Rosenworcel and Commissioners Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks. It said RKF reconciled its findings with a SpaceX analysis showing likely sizable interference to its Starlink receivers (see 2206220042). RS Access said the SpaceX analysis was loaded with conclusions unfavorable to sharing, such as assuming 12 GHz is the only downlink frequency being used, an excessive deployment of 5G macrocells and 5G operating at 1,000% power. SpaceX didn't comment.

China’s Chuhang Technology asked for a waiver of FCC rules to allow marketing its 60 GHz short-range sensing radar device. The waiver would “serve the general public interest by (i) timely alerting the driver of children or infants left behind in the car or rear seat belts not fastened during driving, ensuring passenger safety without causing additional interference to authorized users of the 57-64 GHz band; and (ii) enabling Chuhang Technology to manufacture good performance radar sensors at lower cost, thus making this vital sign detection technology available for vehicles at all levels of consumer affordability, and not only limited to higher-end vehicles,” said a filing posted Friday.

The FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology certified Sony Thursday for a five-year term as a spectrum access system administrator in the citizens broadband radio service band in American Samoa. Sony was previously approved to operate in the contiguous U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam, the FCC said. The FCC also approved new environmental sensing capability sensor deployment and coverage plans for Guam, submitted by Federated Wireless.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded Thursday to comments about the need for her office to work out an agreement with the union representing agency employees to get more staff back to in-person work (see 2208030046). Rosenworcel “is being very thoughtful about return-to-work policies, and has consistently prioritized the health and safety of FCC employees in planning next steps in our phased reopening,” a spokesperson emailed.

Representatives of the Hearing Aid Compatibility Task Force met with FCC staffers to update them on the group's work, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 15-285. One working group is “researching currently available and emerging technologies that can enable those with hearing loss to connect to their wireless devices,” the group said: A second “has conducted two surveys regarding existing and emerging HAC technologies and features … focused on understanding the behavior and experiences of: (1) consumers who use hearing devices; and (2) hearing health care professionals.” A third group is looking at standards and how handsets perform under the 2019 version of the standard. Task force members met with staff from the FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs and Wireless bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology, the filing said. The group started work in 2020 (see 2002070027).

Dell’Oro Group sees limited opportunities for moving 5G workloads to the public cloud and projected cumulative revenue of $4.6 billion over the five-year forecast period of 2022-2026, said a Wednesday report. “The report finds that the vast majority of 5G [stand-alone] networks will be in the Telco Cloud, limiting the short-term opportunity for the Public Cloud to host 5G workloads,” Dell’Oro said. Dave Bolan, research director, said the opportunity for hyperscale cloud providers “to penetrate the Telco Cloud market is very limited in the short-term, with the momentum already established by Mobile Network Operators committing to the Telco Cloud”: Dell’Oro said 27 5G stand-alone networks have been commercially deployed, and only one is running 5G workloads in the public cloud.

While the FCC reallocated the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use two years ago, GSMA said Wednesday the better use would be licensed spectrum for 5G. The group urged countries worldwide to allocate 700-1,200 MHz in the band for carriers. The report “warns that allocating the full 6 GHz band to unlicensed use risks countries losing out on the full benefits of scarce spectrum resource, and damaging their ability to maximise the societal impact of governments’ and operators’ investments in 5G networks.” The band is “crucial for 5G expansion in many countries,” said Luciana Camargos, GSMA head-spectrum: “Without it, operators will often struggle to meet the predicted average of 2 GHz of mid-band spectrum needed for 5G, impacting service quality. Countries may, in consequence, lose out on the full societal and economic benefits of investment in modern 5G networks.”

Aeronet urged simultaneous FCC action approving petitions by the company to use 70/80 GHz for aviation and maritime communications. “A number of foreign regulators” are “looking to the United States to take the lead in authorizing Aeronet’s innovative technology while others might be hoping to seize this leadership opportunity from the United States and promote high-speed broadband service on ships and planes in foreign markets,” the company said in a virtual meeting with Wireless Bureau staff. Aeronet in cited “technical details of its proposed maritime and aviation systems and reiterated its view that both systems could readily co-exist with federal and commercial users of the 70/80 GHz bands," said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 20-133. Aeronet filed both petitions in 2019.

The FCC’s 2.5 GHz auction crept up to $135.2 million after two additional bidding rounds Wednesday. That’s up from $128.9 million Tuesday (see 2208020078).

Wireless ISP Association representatives want more clarity from the FCC on automated frequency coordination systems in the 6 GHz band. WISPA updated an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on work of the 6 GHz multistakeholder group (MSG) and reports from the standards development organizations, said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295. “Among other things, they are developing standards, best practices, and testing approaches … that will govern standard power outdoor use of the 6 GHz band,” WISPA said. A report the MSG submitted last month “demonstrated broad consensus among stakeholders and explained that there is a path forward to commercial launch in the not-too-distant future given the range of areas being covered,” WISPA said: “It would help the process for stakeholders if the Commission released its Public Notice providing guidance on AFC test and certification so that the process can begin as early as practicable.”