An NTIA report released Tuesday provides basic data for 5G in the C-band and “electromagnetic compatibility” between C-band transmitters and airborne radio altimeters, the subject of long-standing concerns in the aviation industry (see 2210060022). Verizon and AT&T are deploying 5G in the band, with some protection for altimeters, which the report calls “radalt receivers.” Unwanted 5G-emission power levels in the radalt band “are upper-bounded by our results as being between -37.5 dBm/MHz (for the radio on which we achieved the smallest measurement dynamic range) and -48.5 dBm/MHz” and may be lower, the report said: “This low level of unwanted 5G emissions within the radalt spectrum band reduces the potential for a 5G-to-radalt harmful interference scenario which would be due to 5G unwanted emissions on radalt receiver frequencies. The FCC might seek to examine unwanted emissions from future 5G base station radios to see if they remain similarly low.” One answer may be “installation or retrofitting of more-effective RF power-rejection filters on radalt receivers for frequencies below 4200 MHz,” the report said. Researchers found the airborne radiation is “significantly less” powerful than transmissions from the 5G base station to mobile phones and other user equipment. “The amount of power reduction in the sky is variable and needs to be examined by researchers in detail, using the collected data that we have made available,” the report said. Researchers also looked at the effect of multiple base stations operating together in an area. The report describes “a distinct near-far effect in our airborne measurements on pairs” of mobile cellsites: “This effect causes the nearer base station transmitters’ emissions to be dominant in a receiver, with more-distant transmitters’ contributions rapidly fading to insignificance.” NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences prepared the report. “5G operates in C-band spectrum safely and without causing harmful interference to aviation operations in dozens of countries around the world," a CTIA spokesperson emailed: "We continue to work closely with NTIA, the FAA and others and look forward to ensuring all Americans benefit from C-band 5G as soon as possible.” Other stakeholders declined comment Tuesday.

The FCC deactivated the disaster information reporting system for Hurricane Ian, said a public notice Monday. The final DIRS report Sunday showed 3.9% of cellsites down in the three counties still submitting data, 120,310 cable and wireline subscribers without service and three FM stations out of service.

“What’s happening on the battlefield [is] classified,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted Friday in response to reports from Ukrainian military officials about outages on the Starlink satellite broadband system in that country (see 2202280055) that they claim have been hindering Ukraine’s ability to repel the Russian invasion. Musk asserted the reports “falsely” claim “that Starlink terminals & service were paid for” by the U.S. government “when only a small percentage have been. This operation has cost SpaceX $80M & will exceed $100M by end of year.” House Commerce Committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., earlier pressed Musk to “make a statement” about the outages or “this should be investigated.” The outage “is a national security issue,” Kinzinger tweeted. SpaceX didn’t comment.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau deactivated the disaster information reporting system for all but three counties in Florida affected by Hurricane Ian, said a public notice Friday. The three counties are Charlotte, DeSoto and Lee. Friday’s DIRS release -- which still contains data from the now deactivated 27 other counties -- shows 1.3% of cellsites down in the affected area, and 235,153 cable and wireline subscribers without service. Four FM stations and 2 AM stations are also down, the report said.

Advocates for blind and hearing-impaired individuals praised progress on making emergency information accessible but want further improvements, speaking during the FCC’s virtual Video Programming Accessibility forum Thursday. Viewers with significant hearing loss spend their days relying on closed captioning, and thus have high expectations for captions on emergency information, said Lise Hamlin, Hearing Loss Association of America director-public policy. Hamlin and other panelists said the ability to move captions around on the screen to avoid obscuring other information would greatly aid accessibility in emergencies. The graphic displays of emergency information used by newsrooms often originate as data, so it should be possible to incorporate that data into additional audio streams, said Anil Lewis, National Federation of the Blind executive director-blindness initiatives. Broadcasters have to balance screen real estate with the need to display graphics in ways their audience can understand, said ABC-owned stations Vice President-Technology Pat Stahl. ATSC 3.0 should provide additional options for offering accessible emergency information, said NAB Vice President-Engineering and Technology Policy Kelly Williams and Televisa Univision Senior Vice President-Local Media Engineering Javier Garcia. The new standard allows a multitude of additional audio streams and could allow notifications to warn viewers when alternative aural information is available, said Williams. The difficulty of switching between a primary audio stream and a secondary one is a common complaint among the visually impaired, said Kim Charlson, executive director-Perkins School for the Blind library. For consumers, there shouldn’t be any distinction between online and over-the-air content for accessible emergency information, Charlson said. "The consumer should have the same expectation," she said.

Wednesday’s disaster information reporting system release shows 334,708 cable and wireline subscribers without service in areas affected by Hurricane Ian, better than the 415,640 in Tuesday’s report. Cell site outages in the affected areas also decreased, from 3.1% to 1.9%. Four FM stations and 2 AM stations are out of service, the report said.

Disaster information reporting system data shows 415,640 cable and wireline subscribers without service in areas affected by Hurricane Ian, said Tuesday’s report. That’s an improvement from Monday’s 474,706. The report also shows 3.1% of cellsites down, along with 5 FM stations and two AM stations. In a news release Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced the deployment of five SpaceX Starlinks to provide communications access in the affected areas. The Media Bureau extended online public file deadlines for broadcasters in Florida and South Carolina from Oct. 11 to Dec. 12, said a public notice in Tuesday's Daily Digest. The Wireline Bureau is also waiving certain provisions of the rules for E-Rate, the Emergency Connectivity Fund, Rural Health Care, COVID-19 Telehealth, Lifeline, High Cost, and Affordable Connectivity Program participants in Florida and the Carolinas affected by Ian, said a public notice Tuesday.

The new Coalition for Coordinated Sharing filed a petition for rulemaking at the FCC Tuesday, asking the agency to develop rules to open the 10-10.5 GHz band for point-to-point use on a shared basis. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to find greenfield spectrum below the 12 GHz spectrum band to connect tower sites, enterprises and devices,” the group said in a news release: “Sharing spectrum in the 10 GHz band represents the most viable means to solve congestion and meet consumer demand for more robust broadband and IoT services with incumbents.” The coalition's members are the Wireless ISP Association, Cambium Networks, the Open Technology Institute at New America and Public Knowledge. An official with the coalition told us it builds on a 2013 proposal by Mimosa asking that the band be set aside for outdoor and long-distance backhaul links at the power levels allowed under Part 90, subpart Z, of commission rules. The commission took comment in 2014 (see 1404150034). CTIA previously supported use of the 10 GHz band for licensed use (see 2011030051). Bipartisan lawmakers in the House and Senate urged an exam of the band in 2015 (see 1503030029). The coalition said sharing would be easier than the sharing in the citizens broadband radio service band, similar to the frequency coordination being developed for the 6 GHz band. “Over the last several years, the Commission has made thousands of megahertz of spectrum available for last-mile service,” the group said. “While those allocations have created significant public benefits, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the need for more point-to-point spectrum to relieve congestion in other bands and help meet the increased demand for fixed broadband service,” it said: “This is particularly true in rural areas and for other applications where devices are not proximate to available or affordable fiber.” The spectrum is currently occupied by DOD and possibly other federal incumbents in many areas, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. “Using a geographic coordination system, this underutilized band could also accommodate shared use with broadband providers in many rural, tribal and other underserved areas,” he said.

The Supreme Court will consider two appeals of appellate court decisions on social media companies' legal protections when their platforms are used in conjunction with terror attacks. On Monday, SCOTUS granted certiorari in docket 21-1333 in an appeal of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision tossing out a suit against Google's YouTube for hosting and recommending ISIS proselytizing and recruitment videos. Plaintiff in the litigation and SCOTUS petitioner is the estate of Nohemi Gonzalez, a U.S. citizen who was killed in ISIS attacks there in 2015. The petitioner asked SCOTUS to revisit the 9th Circuit's holding that the Communications Decency Act's Section 230 protects YouTube's algorithm for recommending videos. Google didn't comment. The court also granted cert Monday in docket 21-1496, in which Twitter is appealing another 9th Circuit decision. In that decision, the appellate court found Twitter and co-defendants Facebook and Google could be held liable for aiding and abetting an act of terrorism. Twitter and the others were sued by American relatives of Nawras Alassaf, a Jordanian killed in an ISIS attack in Istanbul in 2017. “These cases underscore how important it is that digital services have the resources and the legal certainty to deal with dangerous content online," Computer and Communications Industry Association President Matt Schruers said in a statement. “Section 230 is critical to enabling the digital sector’s efforts to respond to extremist and violent rhetoric online, and these cases illustrate why it is essential that those efforts continue.” SCOTUS "can really do something useful by constraining Section 230 protections to hosting content instead of targeting content," tweeted Matt Stoller, American Economic Liberties Project research director.

Hurricane Ian cellsite outages sharply declined over the weekend, the FCC reported Monday in disaster information reporting system data. The DIRS report said 3.8% of cellsites were out of service in affected Florida counties, down from 7.7% in Friday’s report (see 2209300053). Counties experiencing the highest outage rates were Hardee (20.5%), Charlotte (18.4%) and Lee (17.8%). Cable and wireline companies reported 474,706 subscribers without service. One TV, six FM and two AM stations were down. On Sunday, the FCC deactivated DIRS for Hurricane Ian in many South Carolina counties. The agency deactivated Hurricane Fiona DIRS reporting Friday.