Multi-gigabit broadband speeds "are the future and any service providers that haven’t already begun offering multi-gigabit speeds should be making plans now for offering them," broadband engineering consultancy Finley said Monday in a white paper looking at the state of cable and telecom 10G initiatives. While 10G "is still in its infancy," standards bodies have defined tech for supporting 25G speeds, it said.

The FCC deactivated the disaster information reporting system for the New Mexico wildfires, said a public notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. The FCC will "continue to monitor the status of communications services and work with providers and government partners as needed to support remaining restoration efforts," said the PN.

RS Access submitted a new engineering study on the use of the 12 GHz band for 5G to the FCC, which it said refuted interference concerns raised by SpaceX on an engineering analysis submitted a year ago (see 2109280059). RKF Engineering Solutions, which wrote the earlier report, performed the study. “RKF has considered comments addressing its May 2021 report and, in a study filed today, has again found that terrestrial 5G wireless broadband in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band can readily coexist with non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service deployments, which use 10.7-12.7 GHz for downlink,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-443. “The probability of any harmful interference to NGSO operations is no greater than 0.15 … and the probability of any impact on actual users is likely to be substantially less,” the filing said. SpaceX didn’t comment Friday. The FCC is considering revamped rules for the band, with the Office of Engineering and Technology still evaluating the engineering analysis (see 2203210056).

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr criticized some policy calls the Commerce Department made in its notices of funding opportunity (NOFO) on grant programs funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, saying they seem to favor fiber. Wireless industry officials expressed similar concerns (see 2205130054). Congress was “very clear about not having preferences for any one technology or one type of provider,” he said. The department’s rules “effectively negate that bipartisan decision by picking winners and losers in the extent that it puts a very strong thumb on the scale in favor of … fiber,” he said in a Thursday news conference. “Without the thumb on the scale, fiber would naturally prove its value and merit and win out in the lion’s share of cases,” he said. The NOFO takes decision-making away from the states, he said. Fiber also takes longer to build than wireless or satellite connections, he said. “That’s a mistake that will end up leaving people of the wrong side of the digital divide” longer than necessary, he said. “While the Infrastructure Act made clear that the law does not permit any rate regulation, the Commerce Department’s implementing rules head down that path anyways,” he said in a statement: The rules “also pursue a melange of extraneous political objectives that are unrelated to connecting Americans today. They include undue preferences for labor unions, government-run networks, and a Byzantine application process that will invite the imposition of additional conditions unrelated to quickly delivering high-speed service.” The rules also raise overbuilding concerns, he said.

FCC Wireless Bureau guidance on C-band licensee objections to a relocation payment clearinghouse decision, in a February notice (see 2203210036), are effective Friday, says a notice for Friday’s Federal Register. “Before the Bureau will consider any appeal, the relevant party or parties, whether an eligible incumbent claimant or eligible 3.7 GHz Service Licensee, must first timely file a notice of objection with the Clearinghouse as required by the Commission’s rules and pursuant to the process established in the Clearinghouse Dispute Resolution Plan,” the notice says. “Interlocutory appeals, before a timely notice of objection is filed with the Clearinghouse, will not be considered by the Bureau.”

The FCC expanded its disaster information reporting service coverage of the wildfires in New Mexico to include Taos County, said a public notice Tuesday. Wednesday’s DIRS report shows 1.2% of cellsites down in the affected area, all of them in Mora County. The report shows 713 cable and wireline subscribers out of service, and the agency approved two grants of special temporary authority for T-Mobile in the affected area. No broadcast stations or public safety answering points were reported down, but one TV station and one FM station are broadcasting from alternate towers, the report said.

NTIA said 34 states and territories expressed intent to join the $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. NTIA said Wednesday it received letters of intent from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, American Samoa, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. States can get up to $5 million in planning funds by submitting the letters, which are due July 18. “It is absolutely critical that states join our efforts to deliver on access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. NTIA released BEAD and other Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act notices of funding opportunity Friday (see 2205130054).

Two wireless items and a broadcast NPRM make up a short agenda for the June 8 commissioner meeting. A notice of inquiry looks at wireless needs of offshore operations, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday in a note from the chairwoman. “From the construction of new windfarms to generate renewable energy to the expanded use of wireless communications by cruise ships, there are many signs of growing demand for spectrum to support offshore operations,” she said: The NOI looks at “how best to meet our offshore spectrum needs. Smarter offshore spectrum policies could help make sure we are using our scarce spectrum resources efficiently, while facilitating new environmental, business, recreational, and scientific endeavors.” A second wireless item looks at improving mobile calls to 911. “In 2018, the Commission launched an inquiry to explore why some wireless 911 calls are misrouted to the wrong call center," Rosenworcel said. “Over the past four years, enhancements in location-based routing of 911 calls have mitigated the problem of misrouted calls, but they haven’t eliminated it,” she said: “The Commission will vote to update the record in this proceeding and seek comment on improvements that would help to reduce misrouting of 911 calls and improve emergency response times.” The FCC will also take up an NPRM on channel 6 TV stations, which primarily broadcast an audio signal receivable on FM radios and are sometimes called “Franken FMs.” Due to the digital TV transition, such stations had to cease broadcasting their analog signal in 2021. The agency “will consider a proposal to allow the broadcasters to continue their existing FM6 radio service, provided they meet certain conditions, including interference protection and the provision of a synchronous TV service to consumers,” Rosenworcel said. Channel 6 broadcasters had proposed a solution wherein they offer digital video and audio signal using 3.0 while continuing to transmit their analog audio as an ancillary service, and the Media Bureau granted a station special temporary authority to use that setup in June (see 2106100067). NPR has been a vocal opponent of channel 6 stations continuing to broadcast. Rosenworcel said Tuesday the proceeding is about “preserving established local programming for radio audiences.”

U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council negotiators, meeting over the weekend in Paris, agreed to set up an early warning “alert system” to share information about possible disruptions in the semiconductor supply chain, and “incentivize increased production” of chips, said the group in a joint statement Monday. The TTC also agreed to put a “mechanism” in place to avoid chip “subsidy races” among local governments, it said.

The FCC’s disaster information reporting system shows 6.2% of cellsites down and 1,227 cable and wireline subscribers out of service in the two New Mexico counties affected by recent wildfires the system is still activated for, said Monday’s release. The FCC deactivated DIRS for Colfax and Santa Fe counties Saturday. The system is still active for Mora and San Miguel counties. No broadcast stations or public safety answering points were listed as out of service in Monday's report.