RF safety proponents made scores of filings in recent days, more than 100 in the past two days, in 22-69, the digital discrimination proceeding. The mostly one-paragraph filings raise concerns about cell towers, 5G phones, Wi-Fi, smart meters and other wireless deployments for those with electromagnetic sensitivity. “Forcing exposure -- even as part of a genuine effort to afford broadband access -- is itself a form of discrimination as a matter of law,” said Amy Harlib, who offered no other identifying information, in a typical filing: “More importantly, it is fundamentally inequitable because it leads to great harm: people with severe symptoms are functionally excluded from public participation since almost all public spaces are flooded with RF, and those with wireless facilities nearby cannot even take refuge in their homes.” Harlib, like many of the commenters, cited or echoed Children's Health Defense objections.

Tech companies met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington on a Monte Carlo analysis of the risk of very-low-power (VLP) operations in the 6 GHz band to fixed service incumbents, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295. The analysis was done in San Francisco. Companies at the meeting were Apple, Google, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Qualcomm. They have been making the rounds at the FCC and previously spoke with other commissioner aides (see 2302280076).

The FCC Wireline Bureau reminded all recipients in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program they must file their latest status updates April 11. Updates are due every 90 days, said the Monday notice.

The FCC appears unlikely to allow terrestrial mobile use of the lower 12 GHz band in the immediate future (see 2301300043), New Street’s Blair Levin said in a Monday note to investors. “While we think the engineering analysis will be decisive, we have also thought that if one puts that aside the for the moment, the political and policy forces tend to favor approval of the coalition proposal,” Levin wrote: “The coalition has the right membership to appeal to a Democratic majority, including the most respected public interest spectrum advocates and smaller new entrants.” He warned action may have to wait for a third Democratic commissioner to be approved for the FCC. Levin said there's increased focus on fixed wireless use, but that may require further study and more data. The growing sense is that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and the Office of Engineering and Technology are focused on an approach that takes into account both the lower 12 GHz and the upper parts of the band, Levin said. A leading advocate of using the lower 12 GHz for 5G said no decision has been made. “RS Access is not aware of any definitive guidance issued by the Commission regarding the open 12 GHz NPRM,” emailed RS Access CEO Noah Campbell: “We are confident that the broad coalition of advocates who support unleashing the 12 GHz band's full potential will be successful.”

CommScope notified the FCC it’s suspending operations as a spectrum access system manager in the citizens broadband radio service band, effective April 1. “We will no longer be providing SAS services nor accepting CBSD [CBRS device] registrations,” said a notice posted Monday in docket 15-319: “In addition, CommScope will securely transfer all currently registered CBSDs to other Commission-approved SAS administrators by April 1.” The company will retain records not pertaining to federal incumbents for five years, the notice said. CommScope was one of the original SAS providers, along with Google and Federated Wireless. CTIA noted in a report last year that CommScope had effectively abandoned the market earlier in the year. “While Commscope remained silent about its reasons one can reasonably surmise it was due to a lack of expected demand,” the report said: “Companies do not often abandon profitable lines of business.”

Wireless carriers urged the FCC to act on service rules allowing use of the 5030-5091 MHz band by drones but also reminded the commission other spectrum can be used and encouraged flexible-use licensing. Comments were filed last week in docket 22-323 (see 2303100028). AT&T urged the FCC to recognize the potential of flexible use bands to address the spectrums of unmanned aircraft systems. “AT&T and other providers are already meeting some of these needs by harnessing flexible use bands without an airborne use prohibition to implement the varied business cases for customers seeking airborne connectivity and to restore and enhance communications for public safety and consumer users during and after natural disasters,” the carrier said: “We have done this under existing Commission service rules while mitigating potential interference risks to cochannel and adjacent channel services.” AT&T questioned whether “airborne-specific service rules” are necessary. T-Mobile supported a band plan and service rules for the 5030-5091 MHz band. The commission should “also clarify that, unless the rules provide otherwise, all flexible-use mobile wireless licenses permit communications between UAS and terrestrial-based devices,” T-Mobile said: “The existing rules are generally sufficient to ensure that adjacent-channel and adjacent-area licensees are protected from harmful interference from UAS operations, using mitigation techniques and conforming to industry-led technical standards identified by the Commission.”

A lawyer representing tech companies on proposed changes to 6 GHz rules said analyses offered by the companies on interference to incumbent operations in Houston and San Francisco (see 2302070040 and 2302280076) offer a more appropriate analysis than a recent study by electric utility Evergy (see 2303020077). HWG’s Paul Margie spoke with Ron Repasi, acting chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. Margie represents Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Meta Platforms and Microsoft in the proceeding.

The FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment Friday on Samsung Electronics America's request in August for a waiver allowing it to offer a radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum. Comments are due March 27, replies April 4, in docket 23-93. “At the time the C-Band Order was adopted, the CBRS auction had not even commenced,” Samsung said in a petition seeking the waiver: “No one knew who would win licenses in CBRS, let alone in the 3.7 GHz auction which would not end for another year. Carriers were still determining what their mid-band strategies would be and how they could use one or both bands. The world has evolved significantly since then. Grant of Samsung’s waiver request is appropriate now to ensure that carriers have the equipment they need to rapidly deliver on the promise of their 5G networks.” The FCC recently approved a similar waiver for a multiband waiver for Ericsson, which had broad support (see 2208240045).

The FirstNet Authority announced Friday that Joseph Wassel, a 34-year veteran of DOD, was named executive director. Wassel chaired DOD’s Global Public Safety Communications Working Group “responsible for ensuring that DOD’s more than 150,000 first responders -- including police, fire, and [emergency medical service] personnel -- had access to reliable, next-generation communications, including the FirstNet network,” FirstNet said. Wassel also worked for the Defense Information Systems Agency, as assistant to the secretary of defense for communications and as a deputy chief information officer. He replaces Ed Parkinson, who left the authority last year for a job at vendor RapidSOS (see 2204280049). “Joe has a long history championing first responders and is the right person to lead FirstNet,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson: “His decades of leadership at the Department of Defense, including overseeing DoD's implementation of FirstNet across its 150,000 first responders, make him perfectly suited for the role.”

NTIA picked seven contestants, from among 23 applicants, to participate in a $7 million 5G research competition, in cooperation with DOD. The competition “aims to accelerate the adoption of open interfaces, interoperable subsystems, secure networks, and modular multi-vendor solutions toward the development of an open 5G ecosystem,” said a Thursday news release. Team 1 is made up of Mavenir Systems and NewEdge, paired with Radisys and Lions Technology. Team 2 includes Capgemini Engineering, Fujitsu Network Communications and AT&T, paired with GXC. NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences in Boulder, Colorado, hosts the competition.