Mavenir, which earlier spoke with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr on the FCC’s legal ability to address open radio access network deployment (see 2205130041), said it also spoke with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington, in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-63.

Tech company representatives met virtually with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology to discuss a path to the certification of standard-power devices operating in the 6 GHz Band, with an approved automated frequency coordination operator. “Industry is excited about 6 GHz Standard Power (SP) operations,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295: “Along with discussions on the certification of AFC systems, we are working on SP device certification requirements.” Representatives of Broadcom, Cisco, Google, Intel, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Qualcomm were on the call. Verizon, meanwhile, wants further investigation before AFC applications are approved in the band. “Sharing in 6 GHz will only be effective with meaningful” AFC, it said, noting it earlier raised concerns. “We appreciate that OET has since requested supplemental information from the AFC applicants, including inquiry on issues that Verizon identified,” Verizon said: AFC proposals “continue to have gaps that need to be addressed before AFC operations commence, and we strongly urge OET to develop a robust testing regime that will ensure any authorized AFC systems will adequately protect incumbent operators in the band.”

T-Mobile said it kicked off its accelerator program Tuesday, with a focus on augmented-reality smart glasses. “Smart glasses will completely change how we connect and experience the world around us,” said John Saw, executive vice president-advanced and emerging technologies: “With T-Mobile 5G we have the capacity and performance needed to power high-bandwidth, immersive AR experiences for smart glasses, but it’s the developers and entrepreneurs that will bring these new applications to life.” Accelerator participants include: London-based Beem, Tokyo-based Mawari, and U.S. companies Krikey, Mohx-games, Pluto and VictoryXR, said a news release.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is ready to work with Commissioner Brendan Carr, who proposed Monday that wireless carriers be required to participate in the wireless network resiliency cooperative framework rather than a voluntary program, and that they be required to develop roaming arrangements (see 2205160067), she said in a statement to us. "Having traveled to Louisiana together after Hurricane Ida to learn firsthand how we can improve wireless network resiliency after disasters, I appreciate Commissioner Carr's continued work on this issue,” she said: “I look forward to coordinating and working productively with him to strengthen communications during emergencies." Verizon representatives spoke with a Carr aide on the issue, addressing “a potential framework for wireless providers’ use of roaming arrangements,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-346.

A report and order updating telecom service priority (TSP), wireless priority service (WPS) and government emergency telecommunications service (GETS) rules is expected to be approved by FCC commissioners Thursday with minimal changes from the draft circulated by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2204280059), FCC and industry officials said. No group or company reported meetings at the FCC to discuss the item since it was circulated. The order casts the changes as needed “to account for changes in technology.” It notes the current rules date to the establishment of the TSP system in 1988 and WPS in 2000. There are no current commission rules for GETS, which operates via contractual arrangements with the Department of Homeland Security. “These rules were originally developed when communications networks were primarily based on circuit-switched technologies,” the draft says: “As such, the rules do not address the advanced capabilities of next-generation communications technologies that support data and voice services, or the ability of users at different priority levels to share network capacity and resources.” The FCC sought comment in 2020 (see 2007160045) and, in response, Verizon and T-Mobile urged light-touch regulation (see 2011190036). The agency should “continue affording wireless providers sufficient flexibility to voluntarily offer WPS services that are negotiated with the government for public safety users through private contract,” CTIA said.

The National Spectrum Consortium (NSC) said telecom veteran and engineer Joe Kochan is the new executive director. “The unique nature of wireless spectrum demands close partnership between the Department of Defense, federal agencies, industry and academia,” Kochan said Tuesday: “This makes NSC the perfect place for the kind of innovation that is central to both military and civilian users.” Kochan was CEO of US Ignite, a public-private partnership, and was previously at NTIA and a co-founder of DigitalBridge Communications.

Shure representatives urged FCC action on wireless multichannel audio systems rules, teed up in an NPRM a year ago (see 2104220056), in a call with Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff. Shure supports a three-channel/MHz minimum spectral efficiency standard, said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-115. Allow licensed mics to employ WMAS technologies at 250 mW and unlicensed at 150 mW, Shure said: “Refrain from imposing conditions on WMAS operations such as a limitation to large events.” Shure discussed “its continued enthusiasm about the promise of WMAS technology and its ability to help address the continuing need to make greater use out of spectrum in high demand while satisfying the very substantial and still growing need for high performance wireless microphones for professional uses.”

CTA President Gary Shapiro and others from the association urged a cautious approach to transmitter rules, after the recent notice of inquiry, in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington. “It is timely for the Commission to lead another discussion of these issues now in light of an increasingly congested RF environment and the increasingly difficult questions facing the Commission as it reallocates spectrum to support innovative use cases,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 22-137. “One-size-fits all mandates on receiver performance would only undercut these efforts and stifle innovation. Every band and service is unique, and industry-led efforts have proven time and again that these efforts are the most likely to be successful.” Representatives from Intel, Samsung Electronics America, Amazon Lab126, Apple and LG Electronics were also at the meeting. In April, commissioners agreed 4-0 to launch a receiver NOI (see 2204210049).

Amazon urged flexibility, including the use of the spectrum by drones, as the FCC considers revised rules for short-range radars in the 60 GHz band, the topic of a July NPRM (see 2107130066), in a call with Office of Engineering and Technology staff. “Amazon expressed support for the Commission’s work to facilitate the manufacture and use of innovative radar technologies in the 60 GHz band while enabling reasonable coexistence between unlicensed communications and radar technologies operating in the band,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-264: “To ensure the 60 GHz band reaches its full potential, the Commission should decline to impose rules, as suggested by some parties, that would favor particular unlicensed technologies at the expense of other promising technologies.”

Public Knowledge urged the FCC to “move expeditiously” to require that the voluntary wireless network resiliency framework be made mandatory and require that carriers “establish roaming agreements with all mobile carriers in the geographic region.” Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld reported on a call with Ethan Lucarelli, an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The New Mexico wildfires, and the anticipation of another extraordinarily long and destructive wildfire season in the West Coast, underscores the need for immediate action in this proceeding,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-346: “At the same time, the Commission should explicitly recognize that our information and experience with network reliability is constantly growing. Whatever action the Commission can take now to enhance reliability, based on the current record, it should do.” Commissioners approved a network resilience NPRM 4-0 in September, amid hints regulation could follow (see 2109300069).