6 GHz Incumbents Seek Pause in 6 GHz Gear Approvals; NCTA Disagrees
Pause additional equipment certifications for 6 GHz unlicensed low-power indoor (LPI) devices “until rigorous testing is conducted to demonstrate that unlicensed devices can coexist with incumbent fixed-microwave licensees in the 6 GHz band,” 6 GHz incumbents said in a letter…
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to FCC commissioners. “Such action is necessary to satisfy Congress’s recent directive to the FCC to provide a report on progress towards ‘ensuring rigorous testing related to unlicensed use of the 6 gigahertz band’ and is the only prudent course given recent showings in the record that LPI devices pose a significant interference risk,” said a Wednesday posting in docket 18-295. The Utilities Technology Council, Edison Electric Institute, American Public Power Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, American Petroleum Institute, American Water Works Association, American Gas Association, National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, International Association of Fire Chiefs and APCO signed. “The FCC reviewed an extensive and detailed technical record over multiple years and correctly decided that the risk of harmful interference from indoor Wi-Fi devices to fixed link operations in 6 GHz is insignificant,” an NCTA spokesperson responded: “The recent call by fixed link incumbents to stop the 6 GHz equipment certification process does not change the facts and is another attempt to relitigate settled issues and unnecessarily delay the substantial benefits of Wi-Fi 6E and more for American consumers at a time when they rely on Wi-Fi more than ever before.”