Howard Buskirk

The FCC released on Wednesday text of three items scheduled for a vote at the commissioners’ Dec. 11 open meeting, including rules that would allow new very-low-power (VLP) devices to operate without coordination across the 6 GHz band (see 2411190068). The FCC will also consider changing USF letter of credit (LOC) rules and updating several broadcast radio and TV rules.

The FCC on Thursday adopted long-awaited final rules for cellular-vehicle-to-everything technology in the 5.9 GHz band. “These rules will improve transportation safety and permit more efficient mobility as this advanced communications technology is integrated into vehicles and infrastructure,” said a news release. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated proposed rules in July.

AI and traditional telecom infrastructure aren’t the same and a carrier may require different structures for each in their networks, Beth Cohen, Verizon advanced networking and security product strategist, said Tuesday during a TelecomTV webinar. “They’re actually quite different types of workloads, so to build the infrastructure to support them doesn’t necessarily require an integration between the two workloads,” she said. Another question for providers is the extent they’re going to rely on a third-party cloud provider to handle workloads that are “highly compute intense and storage intense.” These are “early days” for AI and networking and each carrier must work through problems itself, she said. “It would be great if there was more consensus, but I don’t think there is yet.” Fernando Castro Cristin, vice president-telco infrastructure at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, said companies want AI to reduce costs and optimize their business and generate revenue. “The telecom industry is there to connect all that together,” he said, adding carriers already are using AI to optimize parts of their networks. “We’ve been optimizing networks for decades, not using AI,” Cohen said. “It’ll be interesting to see how much AI can optimize further.” There’s also a push for carriers to open networks so they can offer customers AI-based applications. “That is very much more exciting and a newer approach to using AI and using the infrastructure to support it,” Cohen said. That’s also much more complicated and puts additional pressure on providers to protect customers’ data, she added. Cristin predicted security will become more important than it is today.

Wireless carriers across the world are making huge investments in their networks, and in AI, but have yet to see the return on investment they’re seeking, executives said Tuesday during an RCR Wireless telco AI forum. Colin Bannon, chief technology officer at BT, confirmed carriers' big AI bets, though he acknowledged many questions remain.

In what could be its last full meeting under Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, the FCC on Dec. 11 will consider rules that would expand parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low-power (VLP) devices can operate without coordination, beyond the initial 850 MHz commissioners approved last year (see 2310190054). Commissioners at the open meeting will also consider changing rules that govern letters of credit for USF programs and an item updating several broadcast radio and TV rules. Also on the agenda are various enforcement items, which will be released after the commission's approval.

McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates laid out why the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that, under the Hobbs Act, courts must accept the FCC’s interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. McLaughlin pointed to PDR Network v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic, a 2019 SCOTUS case about FCC authority to implement the TCPA. The court handed down what was seen as a middle-of-the-road decision in that case (see 1906200055). “There, the Fourth Circuit held that it was bound by the FCC’s interpretation of the TCPA, just like the Ninth Circuit did,” said a brief SCOTUS posted Monday. “Although a majority of this Court didn’t reach the question, four Justices concluded that the Hobbs Act ‘does not bar’ a party ‘from arguing that the agency’s interpretation of the statute is wrong,’” the brief said: “Like PDR Network, this case involves private TCPA claims for money damages and the appeal turns on whether an FCC order bound the court.” Nothing in the Hobbs Act’s text “supports the Ninth Circuit’s reading,” McLaughlin said: “Nor is there any other basis to conclude that Congress designed the Hobbs Act to strip district courts of their authority to interpret a federal statute. … No one doubts that district courts may not hear pre-enforcement petitions seeking those specific forms of relief.” But the Hobbs Act “says nothing about other kinds of actions, like a private action for money damages, that are properly filed in federal district court under ordinary federal-question jurisdiction.” SCOTUS is to hear oral argument Jan. 21 in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson. The case is viewed as having larger implications for the FCC beyond its legal interpretation of the TCPA (see 2410170015).

Commenters disagreed on whether the FCC should require additional disclosures relative to AI calls, in reply comments to an NPRM that commissioners approved 5-0 in August. Consumer and public interest groups urged a smart approach, targeting calls that will most likely confuse consumers. Industry commenters said no new rules are needed now.

The Biden administration is making progress on each of the five bands it's studying as part of the national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048), Shiva Goel, NTIA senior adviser-spectrum policy, said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies webinar late Thursday. Other speakers said the government must make available more high-powered licensed spectrum to ensure the nation doesn’t fall behind China and other competitors.

CTA is optimistic it can work with the new Trump administration on tech issues, two of the group's top policy officials told us. The outlook on spectrum policy and other issues isn’t completely clear, they added.

Three former Republican FCC commissioners agreed Thursday that the Trump administration will likely focus on making more spectrum available for 5G and 6G, but conceded that the bands targeted by wireless carriers won’t be easy to address. Harold Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for the Economics of the Internet, joined Cooley’s Robert McDowell and Mike O’Rielly, now a consultant, during a Hudson forum.