Wi-Fi Alliance Talks 900 MHz and 6 GHz Issues With Commissioner Aides
Wi-Fi Alliance CEO Kevin Robinson and others from the group met with aides to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez to warn that NextNav’s proposals for the 900 MHz band are a threat to “Wi-Fi HaLow,” a Wi-Fi technology operating in the band. The technology is “being used to deliver robust, long-range connectivity for a wide range of industrial and consumer [IoT] applications,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 25-110. “We expressed concern that the use of Wi-Fi HaLow devices is imperiled by NextNav’s proposal to reallocate the 900 MHz band to support its 5G-based alternative positioning, navigation, and timing” service (see 2503030023).
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The alliance representatives also discussed the importance of the FCC’s 2020 order opening the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use. “Billions of 6 GHz Wi-Fi devices have already entered the global market, and dozens of countries have followed the Commission’s lead.”
The group urged the FCC to now follow other countries’ lead in authorizing very-low-power operations at higher-power spectral density levels in the 6 GHz band. “Importantly, the incumbent services in those countries -- such as fixed microwave and satellite uplinks -- are functionally identical to those in the United States,” it said. “This demonstrates the real-world practicality and coexistence feasibility of operating VLP devices at higher power levels, even in environments with extensive incumbent deployments.”