FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told Sens. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., the FCC is working through “complex engineering challenges” as it considers fixed wireless and other uses of the lower 12 GHz band (see 2308100048). Rosenworcel responded to letters from last year. “I am grateful that you have acknowledged the agency’s expertise in overseeing commercial use of spectrum, as well as your recognition of the difficult and complex engineering issues that required careful assessment in this proceeding,” Rosenworcel said, in a posting Wednesday in docket 23-10: “I believe the Commission’s thoughtful approach to this swath of more than 1000 megahertz of mid-band spectrum is a smart investment in our wireless future.”
AT&T launched Internet Air, a fixed-wireless home internet service that can be installed by customers. “Customers can easily self-install AT&T Internet Air in five steps and be up and running in less than 15 minutes,” Erin Scarborough, AT&T president-broadband and connectivity initiatives, blogged Tuesday. “We’ve already rolled out AT&T Internet Air to existing copper-based customers with great success,” Scarborough said. As the offering gains scale, he said, “we are hyper-focused on selecting locations with enough wireless coverage and capacity to deliver not only a great in-home experience, but also maintain a top-notch wireless service for our existing mobile users.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment due Sept. 6, replies Sept. 13, on Jotron's request for a waiver to permit the authorization and use of a personal locator beacon not in compliance with FCC rules. Jotron said the device is in compliance with a recently published Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services standard for PLBs, the bureau said. Jotron claims the Tron SA 20 “complies with this new standard but does not comply with the PLB standard currently incorporated by reference in part 95 because the latter makes no provision for Return Link Service functionality,” the bureau said in a posting Wednesday in docket 23-292. The device operates at 406.0-406.1 MHz.
Metro by T-Mobile said Tuesday it launched the “Broadband BS Fund,” which will offer up to $1 million for consumers who experience “Cable trauma,” willing to share their stories. “The world is awash in yada yada -- added taxes, surprise charges, exploding bills and plenty of other gotchas -- everywhere from airlines to hotels to cable broadband and beyond,” the company said: “Not Metro by T-Mobile.” Metro said it offers unlimited 5G data for $25/month and 5G Home Internet at $20 through the FCC's affordable connectivity program.
The FCC should consider a central clearinghouse, similar to the one used in the 800 MHz transition, to address problems that arise as use of the 6 GHz band becomes more prominent, Enterprise Wireless Alliance representatives told an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. EWA also “urged the FCC to adopt cost recovery mechanisms for incumbents that need to baseline their operations and take other steps to mitigate against interference from unlicensed devices,” said a filing Tuesday in docket 18-295. “We expressed our concern that the FCC not adopt further changes to the technical rules in this band without also addressing these issues,” EWA said.
Tech company representatives spoke with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and staff at the Office of Engineering and Technology on technical issues with allowing very-low power (VLP) portable operations in the 6 GHz band, as proposed in a 2020 Further NPRM (see 2004230059). “We discussed that the record contains two separate large-scale Monte Carlo analyses that demonstrate that the risk of 1 dBm/MHz VLP is insignificant and that the European Union and the United Kingdom have similarly concluded that this power level protects incumbent Fixed Service operations,” said a filing Wednesday in docket 18-295. Companies represented on the calls were Apple, Broadcom, Google and Meta.
T-Mobile’s new premium plan, Go5G Next, which costs $100 per month for a single line (see 2308210042), appears to show a pivot by T-Mobile to focus more on growing average revenue per user, LightShed’s Walter Piecyk told investors. “It’s doubtful that T-Mobile’s new plan will move the needle on gross adds or upgrades,” he said. “This is not a major move by T-Mobile, but it underscores a pivot to ARPU growth already underway,” he said. Focus on ARPU is a "logical next step” for the carrier, Piecyk said: “Net subscriber additions may be great for confetti cannon press releases, but it’s getting harder for T-Mobile to distract investor attention from its pedestrian wireless service revenue growth, especially since it has been trailing AT&T’s growth.”
5G Americas released a paper Tuesday on the latest developments in transport networks, warning of looming challenges “supporting energy- and space-efficient solutions” in different cellsite environments. “A flexible, scalable, and future-proof 5G transport network is crucial for enabling innovation and facilitating the smooth and uninterrupted advancement of 5G implementations,” the report said. The next stage of the evolution will require “more centralized, virtualized, and open architectures, utilizing diverse slicing techniques, incorporating more connected elements at cell sites, and implementing systems that require precise frequency/phase/time synchronization,” 5G Americas said. “A lot has been said about core networks and radio access networks, but at the heart of 5G’s transformative journey lies the intricate web of transport networks, which are the unsung heroes that ensure seamless data transmission between the core network, radio access network, and our ever-growing array of devices,” blogged 5G Americas President Chris Pearson.
Dish Network representatives met with FCC staff about the company’s advocacy on the lower and upper 12 GHz band, the topic of a Further NPRM and NPRM by the FCC (see 2308100048). Also in the meeting were representatives of RKF Engineering, which studied potential interference from 5G in the lower part of the band (see 2304270077), said a filing posted Monday in docket 20-443.
Apple representatives urged FCC adoption of rules allowing very-low power (VLP) portable operations in the 6 GHz band, one of the proposals in a 2020 Further NPRM (see 2004230059), in a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The mobility that will come with VLP is critical to the future of the 6 GHz band and that countries around the world have already approved mobile VLP operations in the band,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295: “These countries have established a power level of 1 dBm/MHz, determining that this power level protects incumbents.” Apple asked the FCC to approve operations “at a power level as close as possible to that approved by other international regulatory bodies.” Rosenworcel is expected to release an item in the next few months in response to the FNPRM (see 2308070060).