FCC Posts 37 GHz and Other Drafts for April 28 Open Meeting

Commissioners will also vote on NPRMs designed to inhibit robocalls and examine foreign-ownership rules. This will be the third meeting under FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

The draft 37 GHz report and order and Further NPRM cite other commission work and a report made under the Biden administration’s national spectrum strategy (see 2403120056). Military deployments would receive priority in the 37-37.2 GHz portion of the band. Registered operations would generally be deployed and start operations within 12 months of the date the registration is granted for a site.

The draft declines to reconsider adoption of a geographic-area licensing regime, as some commenters have suggested. The commission "previously rejected the use of geographic area licensing in the Lower 37 GHz band, and revisiting our framework for sharing the 37 GHz band would delay the ability to bring this spectrum to market expeditiously.” Instead, the draft proposes “a licensing framework that is simple and straightforward, based in part on our part 101 rules.”

That proposal is for a two-phase framework, which “will allow coordination to proceed as quickly and efficiently as possible while maintaining interference protection for previously registered sites, including federal operations.” Because the proposed mechanism “is familiar to most wireless providers and flexible enough to permit the use of a third-party coordinator for those who choose to do so, we find it unnecessary to mandate the use of a third-party coordinator or database administrator.”

The 37 GHz FNPRM “seeks comment on whether to adopt a more stringent emissions limit for Upper Microwave Flexible Use Service operations above 37 GHz” and on whether “the first phase of the coordination mechanism can be enhanced by consideration of additional factors like clutter.” Comment dates will come in a Federal Register notice.

Satellite Spectrum

The draft GSO/NGSO sharing NPRM says it aims to open the door to “support[ing] a more efficient and competitive market for satellite broadband and other in-demand services while uncapping the potential of satellite constellations.” Instead of floating a variety of tentative conclusions, the NPRM asks an array of questions about whether the current equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits “overprotect” today’s GSO networks and what levels of protection those networks need. It also asks whether the EPFD limits “overly restrict” today’s NGSO operations and whether those NGSO systems could offer better service or more capacity with less restrictive limits.

The agency waved off opposition to SpaceX’s 2024 petition (see 2408120018) initiating the rulemaking proceeding. Including the 12.2-12.7 GHz band in the NPRM won't prejudge the outcome of the 12 GHz proceeding, but instead will provide an important technical record, it said.

SpaceX and Kuiper were backers of efforts to have the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference tackle EPFD issues (see 2311160049). The FCC draft cites the idea's status internationally as a rationale for the NPRM. ITU Radiocommunication Sector “studies are ongoing, as they have been for years, [and] there is no explicit item on the agenda for WRC-27 to review EPFD limits,” it said. “Initiating our review of the NGSO-GSO sharing regime now will enable us to have a full record to make any needed changes to our rules for the benefits of any revised NGSO-GSO sharing regime to American consumers in a timely manner.”

Robocalls

The proposed robocall NPRM seeks to close a gap in the commission’s secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) authentication rules. “We initiate the next step in our efforts to protect Americans from illegally spoofed robocalls by proposing to address the caller ID authentication gap resulting from” non-IP networks, the draft says.

“Because STIR/SHAKEN only works in IP networks, non-IP technology at any point in the call path creates a gap in the caller ID authentication scheme that bad actors can exploit,” the draft says: “The loss of STIR/SHAKEN information for calls that traverse non-IP networks significantly undermines the value of the framework as a whole -- in many cases negating the value of the investment providers have made to authenticate their calls and leading to improper spam labeling or blocking by downstream providers.”

While providers are transitioning their networks to be IP-based, “the ongoing existence of non-IP technology in the phone network leaves the public vulnerable to illegal robocalling campaigns, prompting our efforts to explore whether additional requirements are necessary for providers that have not finished converting to all IP,” the draft says. Comment deadlines will be set in a Federal Register notice.

The draft broadcast foreign-ownership NPRM proposes codifying certain foreign-ownership practices that the FCC has followed for years but never written down. It also proposes streamlining the foreign-ownership review process. It seeks comment on codifying existing policy concerning which entity is the controlling U.S. parent and the FCC’s advance approval policy regarding certain deemed voting interests. It also proposes requiring identification of trusts and trustees and extending the remedial procedures and methodology to privately held companies. In addition, it proposes a definition for the controlling U.S. parent in FCC rules.