The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) Project is launching a new testbed called ARA at Iowa State University in central Iowa, targeting research on rural wireless systems and applications, PAWR said Wednesday. The National Science Foundation-funded program is the fourth and final platform in the PAWR program, said a news release. The platform “offers a publicly available wireless living lab supporting rural-focused research, education and innovation,” said Hongwei Zhang, Iowa State engineering and computer science professor and director of the new platform, saying ARA "will not only help narrow the gap between rural and urban connectivity, but also advance the frontiers of 5G and 6G communications.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau said Wednesday the FCC’s universal licensing system will now accept applications for temporary fixed stations in parts of the 6 GHz band. The eventual launch was discussed in the FCC’s 2020 order opening the band for unlicensed use and comes as automated frequency coordination (AFC) systems start testing as they seek final approval (see 2308250061). “Certain licensees in the 6 GHz band must register their temporary fixed stations in ULS before commencing operations to enable” AFC systems “to account for these operations when providing channel information to 6 GHz unlicensed standard power-devices,” the bureau said in docket 18-295.
The FCC continues to believe it can't award 2.5 GHz licenses to T-Mobile or any other winning bidder in last year’s 2.5 GHz auction until its auction authority is restored, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a letter to Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., posted Monday by the FCC. The two complained last month in a letter to Rosenworcel (see 2308140073). “This lapse has delayed more than just the grant of remaining 2.5 GHz band licenses; it has slowed the ability of the United States to advance our historic leadership role on spectrum planning and development issues,” Rosenworcel said: “This is especially important right now, with the World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 scheduled to begin in less than three months.”
Competitive Carriers Association representatives met with FCC Public Safety Bureau staff over smaller carrier concerns on rules for the FCC’s new mandatory disaster response initiative (MDRI). CCA and CTIA sought some tweaks to the rules, which got broad support in comments to the FCC (see 2301110036), including providing more time for compliance. “CCA emphasized that carriers are highly motivated -- from both a business standpoint and a long-held commitment to their communities -- to strengthen and defend their networks against disasters, regardless of regulatory mandates,” said a filing Friday in docket 15-80.
The FCC has all the information it needs to approve operation of very-low-power devices in the 6 GHz band, a tech company representative told an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The record demonstrates that [radio local access network] interactions with fixed Broadcast Auxiliary Service receivers were similar to interactions with [fixed service] receivers, but that fixed BAS receivers are typically located in even higher and less accessible locations than FS receivers,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 18-295: “The risk of harmful interference to vehicle-mounted [electronic newsgathering] receivers was insignificant at power levels discussed in the record.” The filing was by HWG’s Paul Margie, counsel to Apple, Broadcom, Google and Meta Platforms.
5G rollouts have been “a disappointment” for most wireless carriers worldwide, with revenue flat and costs growing, Mavenir CEO Pardeep Kohli blogged last week. Kohli predicted industry trends will drive more providers to follow Dish Network’s model and adopt open radio access network architectures. “Operators must change as investors demand profitability,” Kohli said: “In the last downturn, Alcatel, Lucent, Nortel, Motorola, and Siemens were not able to justify building proprietary systems for 4G. I do believe going forward, that even Ericsson and Nokia will not be able to justify making the required investments and continue to build proprietary 5G/6G systems when alternative options are available. If 5G does not succeed, there will be no money for 6G. The solution is to innovate and do ‘more with less.’”
The FCC Wireless Bureau reminded designated entity licensees of an Oct. 2 deadline to file annual DE reports. “The annual DE reporting requirement, along with all DE reporting requirements, applies to all DEs, including rural service providers,” the bureau said Friday.
Dish Network fired back Friday at T-Mobile in their dispute (see 2308280055) over whether the emerging carrier should have until June 30 to exercise an option to buy 800 MHz licenses from T-Mobile. Dish asked for an extension from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The option to buy the licenses was part of a web of agreements in T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint (see 2308170065). Dish noted T-Mobile’s dominance among U.S. wireless carriers, with the largest market cap of the big three. “T-Mobile wants the Court to view DISH’s Motion as nothing more than an ordinary commercial dispute,” Dish said: “The Opposition reads as if the Court’s evaluation of this Motion were just an exercise in contract interpretation. But the Opposition’s rhetoric about how contracts ought to be read obfuscates the key principle relevant to the Court’s analysis of the Final Judgment: preserving Competition.” Dish noted that two weeks ago, in agreeing to the spectrum transfer, T-Mobile told the FCC, “The terms of the Final Judgment are designed to facilitate DISH’s entry into the wireless market as a facilities-based provider and ... [t]he 800 MHz spectrum licenses contemplated by this transaction will substantially enhance DISH’s ability to do so.” That admission undermines T-Mobile’s opposition to an extension, Dish said: T-Mobile’s objection “should be seen for what it is: an attempt by the market leader to hinder a nascent competitor, one that has taken on the Herculean task of building a modern nationwide facilities-based wireless network in a period of unprecedented economic turmoil.”
Federated Wireless and Comsearch notified the FCC they're launching portals for public tests of their 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) systems (see 2308300018), in letters posted Friday in docket 21-352. Federated said its portal will open Thursday. Comsearch promised a Sept. 8 opening.
The National Academy of Sciences, through its Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF), urged the FCC to provide more certainty on radioastronomy service (RAS) use of the 42 GHz band, in response to an NPRM on sharing the band (see 2308310053). The comments were posted Friday in docket 23-158. “As the Commission has recognized throughout … radio astronomy is a vitally important tool used by scientists to study the universe,” CORF said. The commission proposes that RAS observations be protected, but “it does not propose a means for doing so,” the committee said: “At 42 GHz, terrain shielding can provide effective protection to an RAS observatory. However, this shielding is highly dependent on the details of the surrounding topography and the nature of a prospective active service deployment. Thus … coordination requires the use of terrain elevation data combined with an irregular terrain propagation model.” In another filing, Qualcomm said its long-standing proposal for licensed sharing in the 37 GHz band (see 2104280038) could also work in 42 GHz. “Qualcomm’s technology-based sensing proposal enables licensed sharing of the entire band in the same location, at the same time, and on the same exact frequencies, by taking advantage of synchronized access, energy measurements, and the highly directional nature of millimeter wave communications,” the company said. The Wireless ISP Association opposed the Qualcomm model, which was mentioned in the 42 GHz NPRM. “The approach Qualcomm offers would require users to shut down for a given period of time, deploy sensing capability to detect other transmitters, and then transmit only where there would be no predicted harmful interference,” WISPA said: “It would be difficult, if not impossible, for licensees to build a business model under this narrow approach when consumers need real-time access to connectivity.”