If the 3.45 GHz auction fails, the band likely won’t be deployed for several years, “making the failure a boon for the comparatively spectrum rich and a problem for those currently spectrum deprived,” New Street’s Blair Levin told investors over the weekend. The auction closed at $9.8 billion Monday, after speculation last week that the auction was in trouble (see 2110140059). The first reaction would likely be “everyone will claim the auction proves the wisdom of what they previously argued,” Levin said. Congress, the FCC and NTIA will look at “a series of issues the failure raises, with many of those issues likely to be raised for the next band as well,” he said. Failure would likely have no effect on the next 5G auction of the 2.5 GHz band, he said: “The situation there is different, with T-Mobile and smaller carriers who want it having the capacity to meet the reserve. Further, the Democrats will not want another delay of spectrum allocation to 5G uses on their watch.”

Proposals in a July FCC Further NPRM, seeking revised rules for short-range field disturbance sensor (FDS) radars in the 60 GHz band, got general support in replies posted in docket 21-264 before Monday night's deadline. Tech companies had noted the importance of protecting ultra-high throughput and ultra-low latency Wi-Fi (see 2109210062). “As other commenters from across industries rightly noted, the current rules are inhibiting the introduction of life-saving applications, such as in-vehicle child safety systems and other industrial radar devices that could greatly enhance worker safety,” said the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association. Axis Communications supports “proposed changes that are as technology neutral as possible and take harmonization with other standards, in particular the European standard for Short Range Devices … into account,” the company said: “Changes in the rules should not stand against the primary purpose of part 15 to allow for unlicensed operation.” Banner Engineering said it plans to offer products in the U.S. that use 60 GHz pulse radars. The Wireless ISP Association counseled caution, in a Monday statement. “WISPA members are utilizing the 60 GHz band to deliver gigabit connectivity,” the group said. “As the Commission thinks through how to best utilize this critical workhorse band for high-speed broadband, it should ensure that it does not harm existing and extensive use cases,” WISPA said: “It should not raise costs of deploying rural broadband by imposing listen-before-talk or spectrum sensing requirements on unlicensed communications devices in the band. … Keeping the same unlicensed power limits will ensure that existing deployments are not harmed and that the 60 GHz band remains a viable option for gigabit broadband.”

Any FCC recommendation of U.S. support for possible consideration a spectrum allocation for space-based radar sounders in the 40-50 MHz range at the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference should be conditioned on the recommendation explicitly saying incumbents in adjacent frequency bands are protected and not constrained, ARRL said in docket 16-185 Friday. Amateur radio service has a primary allocation in the U.S. at 50-54 MHz, it said.

The Open Technology Institute at New America encouraged the FCC to move quickly to allow automated frequency control in 6 GHz, in a call with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. “It would be a costly and unnecessary opportunity loss for consumers and the economy if the Commission takes several years to certify AFCs, as it [did] to certify the then-novel TV Bands Databases and Spectrum Access Systems,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. The group also expressed concerns on T-Mobile’s pending shuttering (see 2109210040) of its CDMA network.

The National Advertising Review Board recommended AT&T discontinue three commercials comparing its upload speeds to cable services, and discontinue or modify one commercial comparing its fiber service to cable, said a news release Thursday. An AT&T spokesperson directed us to NARB's news release, which said it “supports NARB’s self-regulatory process and will comply with the NARB’s decision” and "noted that it respectfully disagreed with NARB’s recommendation to discontinue or modify certain AT&T Fiber ads."

AT&T urged the FCC to issue a “Knowledge Database document … well prior to the November deadline for submission” of 6 GHz automated frequency coordination proposals (see 2109300069), in a call with Office of Engineering and Technology staff. The document would identify “specific parameters within each of the propagation models mandated by the 6 GHz Order to be used by all AFC system operators,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295. “Setting comprehensive AFC parameters now would be far more efficient from an administrative perspective and thus would speed the certification.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau cleared a waiver for Nebraska Indian Community College to use 2.5 GHz for broadband in an area that’s only partially tribal land. NICC already received a license covering the Santee reservation in Nebraska. NICC sought a second license for the Omaha reservation to the entire Bancroft-Rosalie School District, which includes some nontribal lands, the bureau said Thursday. “Under the unique circumstances presented here, we find that strictly applying the Tribal lands definition in this instance would be contrary to the public interest,” the bureau said: “We also note that no petitions to deny or oppositions were received.”

Though one National Public Safety Telecommunications Council representative told Gogo he no longer had concerns about a Gogo Business Aviation waiver (see 2110130063), "NPSTC's position of concern has not changed," Spectrum Committee Chairman Don Root emailed us Wednesday. Root said NPSTC's 16 organizations representing public safety communications interests haven't reached consensus on whether there's no longer a concern. Gogo said Thursday it "remains eager ‘to satisfactorily resolve any concerns raised by NPSTC, Motorola or other stakeholders" about its waiver request and it "will continue to reach out and address any public safety concerns raised by any party or representative.”

The FCC “reasonably exercised its authority over the Nation’s airwaves” in dividing the 5.9 GHz band, with 45 MHz set aside for Wi-Fi and 30 MHz for cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, the government told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Last year's order met a “pressing need for improved Wi-Fi internet service and other unlicensed uses, while also preserving ample capacity for present and anticipated vehicular-communications needs,” said a brief filed Wednesday in docket 21-1130. ITS America and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asked the court to overturn the order (see 2106020076). Wi-Fi advocates believe the order will stand (see 2107020036). The needs of the public and the best use of the spectrum have changed “dramatically” since the FCC allocated the spectrum for auto safety in 1999, the U.S. said. “Vehicular communications technology using the band has barely been deployed, and many of the features for which this spectrum was expected to be used have shifted to different technologies and to other bands,” the government said: “Demand for this spectrum to support Wi-Fi networks and wireless broadband -- technology that barely existed when this spectrum was allocated more than two decades ago -- has exploded.”

Children’s Health Defense and four individuals challenging revised rules for over-the-air reception devices urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn revised OTARD rules, approved by FCC commissioners in January (see 2101070068). “The amendments are not ‘modest,’” said a final brief posted Wednesday in docket 21-1075. The revisions “contemplate massive deployment of carrier-grade base stations and antennas in residential areas despite significant local impact, opposition and harm,” the pleading said. Petitioners said the FCC lacked legal authority to approve the revisions. The FCC defended the order (see 2108240040). Safe Technology Minnesota, Wired Broadband and other opponents of the rules filed a brief supporting Children’s Health Defense. “What is striking about the OTARD Report and Order is what it does not contain: any meaningful response to the hundreds of comments filed by parties who advised the Commission that they themselves -- or members of their families or friends -- are suffering health effects as a result of RF emissions,” they said: “The Report and Order dismisses in one sentence the health risks and conditions suffered by hundreds of people who filed comments regarding RF exposure levels.” Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute at New America told the court Thursday they plan to file an amicus brief in support of the FCC.