CTIA filed at the FCC results of its recent annual survey, which showed rapid wireless industry growth. “In 2023, wireless data traffic reached an extraordinary 100.1 trillion megabytes, marking the biggest year-over-year increase in history and nearly double the data used just a few years ago,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 24-119. As of the end of last year, “nearly 40% of wireless connections are 5G, and more than 330 million Americans are covered by one or more 5G networks,” CTIA said: 5G networks provide “a platform for other services and industries, including competitive and affordable 5G home broadband, which accounted for 95% of all new fixed broadband subscriptions over the past two years, underscoring 5G’s role in helping to close the digital divide and expand consumer choice.”
The FCC should complete its review of T-Mobile’s proposed buy of UScellular within the commission’s informal 180-day shot clock and finalize a decision on the deal (see 2409160029), Free State Foundation Director-Policy Studies Seth Cooper blogged Monday. “Delays in merger reviews can accelerate subscriber losses in small providers and have other harmful impacts,” he said. If approved, the deal would likely "produce pro-competitive results,” Cooper wrote: “On its face, the proposed combination does not appear to pose any significant competitive harm.”
Top executives at Anterix spoke with aides to FCC Commissioner Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on the broad support they see for a proposed rulemaking authorizing 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the 900 MHz band (see 2405210041). In 2020, the FCC authorized 3/3 MHz broadband in the spectrum (see 2005130057). “The FCC decision to create a 900 MHz broadband segment has already enabled utilities across the nation, including rural areas, to design, deploy, and operate private broadband networks tailored to their highly demanding specifications,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 24-99. “These networks are supported by an ecosystem of more than a hundred equipment vendors and other suppliers, an ecosystem launched in response to the FCC’s action and essential for addressing the nation’s need for a reliable, efficient, secure electric grid," Anterix said.
Led by the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, four public interest groups filed a petition at the FCC asking for changes in a July order that lets schools and libraries use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2407180024). The petition reflects several changes SHLB sought before the order was approved 3-2 (see 2407170035). “The Commission should allow E-Rate funding to support cost-effective options that are functionally equivalent to commercially available mobile wireless services and Wi-Fi hotspots within the established pre-discount budget,” said the petition, posted Friday in docket 21-31: “E-Rate support should also be available for the purchase of hotspots on a standalone basis if an applicant already has access to the service needed to use the hotspots, and for wireless service that could be used with an applicant’s existing non-hotspot Wi-Fi-enabled equipment.” Also signing the petition were the Open Technology Institute at New America, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Consortium for School Networking. Maurine and Matthew Molak filed a legal challenge to the order in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The FCC told the court the case isn’t ripe for review since the agency hasn’t addressed petitions for reconsideration and the order isn’t final (see 2409130063). Commissioner Brendan Carr has questioned whether the order would survive a legal challenge.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said including routers under the agency’s recently approved voluntary cyber trust mark program “is vitally important for the security of our home and small business networks.” Commissioners approved the cyber mark program 5-0 in March (see 2403140034). “Consumer routers are the quarterback … of the home network,” Starks said in a speech at American University included Friday's Daily Digest. The program will prove important for consumers, helping them make informed buying decisions “while at the same time incentivize[ing] manufacturers to invest in stronger security measures,” he said. “Much is at stake,” Starks said: “Cybercriminals and adversarial states can steal sensitive personal data, facilitate identity theft, disrupt critical infrastructure and compromise national security.”
Aura Network Systems CEO Bill Tolpegin met with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about the company’s 2021 pursuit of a rulemaking on expanding the use of air-ground radiotelephone service channels between 454.675-454.975 MHz and 459.675-459.975 MHz for voice and data communications, including by drones (see 2109230049). Tolpegin also met with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington. Filings on the meetings had yet to be posted on Friday. The CEO earlier met with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks (see 2409180020).
While FCC commissioners will vote at their September meeting on allowing non-geostationary satellite use of the 17 GHz band (see 2409040053), nothing in the record supports NGSO operations at up to the ITU power flux density (PFD) limits in the 17.7-17.8 GHz slice, according to AT&T and Verizon. In a docket 22-273 filing posted Friday, the companies said more measures are needed to ensure protection of incumbent fixed service (FS) operators in the band. NGSO operators have "abdicated their burden" of showing that current and future NGSO, geostationary orbit (GSO) and FS systems can coexist in the slice, they said. AT&T and Verizon urged that the FCC require NGSO applicants seeking to operate in the slice have their PFD threshold capped at a certain level unless they submit an aggregate interference analysis showing they will protect FS when operating at a higher level. Cheering the proposed opening of the 17 GHz band to NGSO operations, SpaceX said there's no need to apply equivalent power flux density limits to the band to protect GSO operators. But the FCC should make clear that any EPFD protections adopted will be subject to the outcome of international efforts to modernize EPFD limits and to the outcome of FCC updates of GSO/NGSO spectrum sharing rules, it said. SpaceX said it met with the offices of all five commissioners. AT&T and Verizon said they met with Space, Wireless, and Consumer and Governmental Affairs bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology staff.
5G Americas released a paper looking at the ITU’s “IMT-2030 Vision” study and the “long and complex process” of developing international mobile telecommunications radio-interface standards. The Americas “must carefully decide the proper level of enhancement/performance of attributes originating in 5G,” said the paper, posted Thursday. 5G Americas noted that this is only “an initial framework, or vision for IMT-2030” and “one of the early steps in the IMT definition process.” The framework “has many details that remain to be determined: minimum levels of performance, mandatory and optional features, and which specific technologies are to be incorporated into next-generation systems,” the group said. 6G is expected to be cloud native “with computing and data services tightly integrated with the communications aspects in an inherently distributed and disaggregated fashion,” the group said. The ITU report is more than a technical document, blogged Viet Nguyen, vice president-PR and technology at 5G Americas. “It sets the stage for what will define 6G -- everything from enhanced mobile broadband to integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) technologies that combine wireless communication with radar-like detection capabilities,” he said.
The Wireless Innovation Forum, the OnGo Alliance and the Wireless ISP Association jointly petitioned the FCC to delay by 30 days comment deadlines on an August NPRM asking about further changes to rules for the citizens broadband radio service band (see 2408160031). Comments are now due Oct. 7, replies Nov. 5, in docket 17-258. “The NPRM raises significant and complex issues … that warrant detailed Comments to build a robust record from those directly impacted, including over 1,200 member companies of the Joint Petitioners,” said the petition posted Friday: “Each of the Joint Petitioners concurs that additional time to write Comments would help establish a more robust record.” They note numerous groups are “working to coordinate positions among their respective members on the proposals and questions raised.”
An order on adopting out-of-band emissions in the 24 GHz band, aligned with limits adopted at the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference, was circulated for a commissioner vote, per an update last week to the agency’s “circulation list.” The proposed changes had received mixed reviews (see 2403150037). Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington dissented on a December NPRM. The proposed changes “are asks that were either rejected or never even studied at WRC-19,” Carr said at the time (see 2312260043): “Thus, WRC-19 provides no basis or justification for turning heel.”