Proposed C-Band NOI Acknowledges Large Number of Incumbents

Also on the agenda is a call-blocking draft order that is largely similar to an order that was pulled from the September meeting agenda. But there are some notable omissions to the February order. The meeting will be the first under new Chairman Brendan Carr.

The FCC launched the process that led to the first C-band auction during the first Donald Trump administration, though the process was often tumultuous, with the airline industry putting up roadblocks because of concerns over radio altimeters and aviation safety (see 2303200069). But the C band has proven key to 5G deployment, especially by Verizon and AT&T.

“In this NOI we take the initial step towards exploring whether and, if so, how we could free up additional mid-band spectrum for new services in the Upper C-band,” the draft says: “In doing so, we acknowledge the wide variety of incumbent operations and users in and adjacent to the band.”

The 3.98-4.0 GHz portion of band in the contiguous U.S. “is currently reserved as a guard band to protect adjacent incumbent operations from potential harmful interference,” the item notes. The 4.0-4.2 GHz portion is allocated throughout the U.S. for non-federal use on a primary basis for fixed-satellite-service and fixed-service use, “although FS links no longer operate within the continental” U.S. Space station operators “use these frequencies to provide space-to-earth or downlink signals of various bandwidths to licensed transmit-receive, registered receive-only, and unregistered receive-only earth stations nationwide,” which “primarily deliver programming content to television and radio broadcasters throughout the country, as well as providing telephone and data services to consumers,” the draft says.

The 4.2-4.4 GHz portion is a home for radio altimeters and also contains a global co-primary allocation for wireless avionics intracommunications systems, “which provide communications over short distances between points on a single aircraft and are not intended to provide air-to-ground communications or communications between two or more aircraft.”

The NOI asks for comment on whether the commission “should further repurpose the Upper C-band, in full or in part, to authorize more intensive use of the upper 220 megahertz portion of the band.” Commenters should “specifically identify the amount of Upper C-band spectrum that might be suitable for repurposing.” The FCC Wireless Bureau launched docket 25-59 Thursday for comments.

Carriers applauded the NOI. “America faces a pressing need for more licensed spectrum to meet skyrocketing consumer demand,” said CTIA President Meredith Baker: “Making Upper C-band available for 5G services is crucial to strengthening America’s wireless networks, driving innovation, creating jobs, and securing our economic competitiveness.”

Rhonda Johnson, AT&T executive vice president-federal regulatory relations, offered support via email: “Access to mid-band spectrum is imperative to keep costs low for consumers and ensure U.S. leadership in 5G, and today’s move by the FCC begins an inquiry to do just that.”

AWS-3 Auction

The AWS-3 NPRM was initially circulated for a vote by former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Carr pulled it during his first week in office (see 2501270055). Because Rosenworcel sought an electronic vote, the draft AWS-3 NPRM wasn't made public before Thursday.

Congress authorized the FCC to auction AWS-3 licenses returned to the FCC by affiliates of Dish Network in 2023 and unsold licenses from the initial auction 10 years ago (see 2501230041). Part of the proceeds will fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.

“We take the first step towards an effective auction by proposing to harmonize outdated rules related to competitive bidding for such licenses with more recent Commission practice in spectrum auctions,” the draft NPRM says: “We also propose to update our general part 1 competitive bidding rules to reflect statutory requirements regarding the categorization of an entity as a ‘small business concern.’” Comment dates will come in a subsequent Federal Register notice.

Call Blocking

Both last September’s and the new call-blocking draft orders would require providers to block calls thought likely to be illegal using a reasonable do-not-originate list. Both also require the terminating providers to notify callers immediately when calls are blocked.

Gone from the February draft order is the authorization that would have allowed a forfeiture of $11,000 for voice service providers that don't comply with the requirement “to take affirmative, effective measures to prevent new and renewing customers from using its network to originate illegal calls.” Also gone from the new draft is an entire section on texting. In the September draft order, the FCC proposed requiring originating providers to block texts if the FCC notifies the provider that the source is suspected of illegal texts and requiring providers that offer email-to-text services to make the services available only on an opt-in basis.

Wireless Alerts

An item on wireless emergency alerts (WEA) includes an order and a Further NPRM. The draft order would “empower” alert originators by requiring carriers participating in the WEA program “to support WEA messages that do not trigger the audio attention signal, vibration cadence, or both.” The order would let consumers “override suppression of the vibration cadence (and thus continue to receive the vibration cadence as a means of alerting them).”

The WEA order also would require that devices marketed as “WEA-capable” be able to “support all of the required WEA capabilities -- including device-based geotargeting, 360-character alerts, embedded references, and silent alerts -- and not just a subset of them that varies by device or provider.” Devices no longer considered to be “WEA-capable” would be able to continue to receive alerts.

The draft FNPRM includes questions on topics such as whether the FCC should allow consumers to silence or turn off alerts “during certain hours, to the extent these features are offered by their providers.” It also asks about ways to encourage more consumers to opt in to receive alerts.

“What actions can mobile device equipment manufacturers or operating system developers take regarding WEA notification settings or the way in which users are prompted to review those settings to promote careful consideration of the options?” the FNPRM asks: “To what extent do mobile device manufacturers’ design decisions influence the rate of consumer opt out?” The agency also seeks comment on “whether certain mobile device operating systems’ implementation of the right to opt out of WEA messages increases the incidence of consumer opt out.” Comment deadlines will come in a Federal Register notice.

Also teed up for a vote is a draft NPRM on enforcement of the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act enforcement (see 2502050057). It would seek comment on whether the FCC’s rules “are effectively serving their intended purpose” and where updates may be needed “given improvements in technology or new industry practices." The FCC has “received thousands of complaints from viewers who remain frustrated by the loudness of television commercials,” a fact sheet about the item says.

The draft NPRM also seeks comment on possible changes to the complaint process and possible actions that could be taken. The FCC’s rules address the average loudness of commercials, rather than their maximum loudness, the draft item says. “Anecdotal reports indicate that some advertisers may be attempting to ‘game’ this system by using exceptionally loud sounds at the beginning of an advertisement and then reducing the loudness to achieve a technically compliant commercial,” it says. “We seek comment on consumer experiences with this phenomenon, and possible actions the Commission, industry, or standard developers could take in this area to further minimize consumer harm.”