OTI, PK Defend Channel 14 Sharing Plan in Face of Interference Critique
The public interest push for opportunistic public access to Wi-Fi channel 14 as a condition for approving Globalstar's proposed broadband terrestrial low-power service is explicit about being conditional on the FCC first finding that TLPS "does not unduly disrupt the…
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current Wi-Fi or Bluetooth ecosystem," Michael Calabrese, director-Open Technology Institute's (OTI) Wireless Future Project, emailed us. Wireless Communications Association International has been critical of the channel 14 plan pushed by OTI and Public Knowledge (PK) and separately by the Wireless ISP Association (see 1606130053). "Since Globalstar is asking for incredibly valuable new spectrum rights without an auction, the FCC can both ensure that the new Wi-Fi channel is intensively used and secure a return to the public by allowing its use when and where Globalstar is not using it," Calabrese told us Monday. "This is extremely straightforward to implement given the availability of the geolocation database that the FCC is about to certify to govern opportunistic access to unused licensed spectrum as part of the new 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service.” In an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 13-213, OTI/PK recapped a meeting with Wireless Bureau Chief Jon Wilkins and staff in which the groups reiterated the push for public access to channel 14 in areas where TLPS isn't deployed and where Globalstar has determined channel 14 creates no interference risk to its mobile satellite device customers. Under such a "use or share" approach, the public interest groups said, third parties could register with Globalstar or an extension of a spectrum access system certified by the FCC and get permission to operate, with Globalstar able to revoke that permission where the third parties cause interference of a type or manner that would necessitate the company to abate the interference if it was the one running the access point or when it begins its own deployment in that market area. That opportunistic access wouldn't happen immediately but only if/when Globalstar gets indefinite nationwide authorization to deploy TLPS, they said. The company didn't comment. Also during the bureau meeting, OTI/PK said if the FCC can't adopt a final order this year on technical details about sharing the 5.9 GHz band between Wi-Fi and non-safety dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) uses, it should nonetheless move quickly on rechannelization of the band. Sharing the remaining 40 to 45 MHz of the band between DSRC non-safety applications and low-power unlicensed operations on an equal basis best serves the public interest. Automakers petitioning the FCC to reconsider parts of its order relaxing the out-of-band emission (OOBE) limits for the operation of U-NII-3 (5.725-5.85 GHz) band devices (see 1605090052) "do not even pretend to show that the rule changes they protest would cause harmful interference to DSRC," OTI/PK said. The groups said the petition is more evidence for moving the 10 MHz DSRC basic safety messaging channel to the top of the 5.9 GHz band, separate from sharing by non-safety DSRC and unlicensed applications.