Easy Win at FCC Expected for 6 GHz VLP Order
FCC commissioners appear likely to approve, with few changes, a draft order that would expand parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low-power (VLP) devices are permitted to operate without coordination. One wrinkle, industry officials said, is that Commissioner Nathan Simington appears sympathetic to concerns NAB raised earlier. Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the order at their open meeting Wednesday.
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The draft rejects NAB’s request for a 55 MHz carve-out at the top of the U-NII-8 band for electronic newsgathering. NAB didn’t comment Monday. “As we have thoroughly addressed interference considerations related to VLP operations in the U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 bands herein and found that such operations will have an insignificant potential for causing harmful interference to ENG operations, we decline to adopt NAB’s suggestion,” the draft argues.
Alex Roytblat, Wi-Fi Alliance vice president-regulatory affairs, said he doesn’t expect “substantive change[s]” from the draft. Added Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, “I’m not hearing much, and I don’t believe it’s controversial.”
Industry officials note that when commissioners approved a VLP order and Further NPRM in 2023, Commissioner Brendan Carr said he would have gone further, including allowing VLP in the U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 portions of the band (see 2310190054).
The buildup to the order's release saw more lobbying than the record shows since the draft was circulated.
Among the few filings since circulation, a lawyer for Apple, Broadcom and Meta spoke with Ira Keltz, acting chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, seeking language revisions (see 2412020010).
The Utilities Technology Council supported (see 2411290013) expanding VLP across the 6 GHz band but warned against “allowing higher power limits for VLP operations and/or relying on geofencing to protect incumbent fixed microwave licensed systems against interference from higher power VLP at this time.” UTC also discussed the importance of requiring all new devices “to accept mandatory firmware updates that alter their operating parameters, which will allow unlicensed performance to be changed in the future.”
A SiriusXM representative sought added clarity in a sentence in the draft about firmware updates. The company earlier opposed expanding VLP to the two additional parts of the band (see 2410090049) and noted in the recent filings that its interference concerns remain.
“Our actions today pave the way for these devices to use the latest standards and to take advantage of larger channels across the 6 GHz band,” the draft argues: “We expect that VLP devices will be instrumental in supporting cutting-edge applications, such as augmented and virtual reality and body-worn technologies, that will help businesses, enhance learning opportunities, advance healthcare opportunities, and bring new entertainment experiences.”