Linksys highlighted affordability in announcing two new WiFi 6 mesh systems Tuesday. The Hydra 6 ($179) and Atlas 6 ($149) routers deliver the performance needed for “the influx of devices on home networks,” said Alan Cohen, vice president-marketing, head of product. The Atlas 6 works best with internet service plans up to a gigabit and handles 25 devices in a home up to 2,000 square feet, it said; the Hydra 6 covers 25 devices in a space over 2,000 square feet. Combining more routers expands the number of devices that be Wi-Fi-connected, plus the operating range.

Congress might want to look at a shorter, two-year spectrum auction authorization for the FCC, rather than a 10-year reauthorization, as that would give lawmakers time to also set up a future spectrum pipeline for 5G beyond this year's 2.5 GHz auction, American Action Forum Director-Technology and Innovation Policy Jeffrey Westling blogged Tuesday. A shorter authorization also would make it easier for Congress to channel auction proceeds into such priorities as Next Generation 911 since the auctions would be considered new revenue for Congressional Budget Office scoring after the reauthorization expires, he said.

Comments are due June 21, replies July 19, regarding mobile carriers that participate in wireless emergency alerts report on metrics aimed at evaluating the end-to-end performance of WEAs, the FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau said in a docket 15-91 public notice Monday. The agency adopted the WEA Further NPRM 4-0 in April (see 2204210050).

SpaceX took its argument for removing the multichannel video distribution and data service encumbrance from the 12 GHz band (see 2205130050) to the FCC commissioners. Representatives spoke with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks about ending the proceeding on allowing terrestrial mobile service in the band, per a docket 20-443 ex parte post Monday.

Comments will be due June 21, replies July 19, on a Further NPRM on improving wireless emergency alerts, says a notice for Friday’s Federal Register. Commissioners approved the FNPRM last month, expressing some support for imposing reporting requirements on carriers (see 2204210050).

Mavenir, which earlier spoke with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr on the FCC’s legal ability to address open radio access network deployment (see 2205130041), said it also spoke with aides to Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington, in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-63.

Tech company representatives met virtually with staff from the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology to discuss a path to the certification of standard-power devices operating in the 6 GHz Band, with an approved automated frequency coordination operator. “Industry is excited about 6 GHz Standard Power (SP) operations,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-295: “Along with discussions on the certification of AFC systems, we are working on SP device certification requirements.” Representatives of Broadcom, Cisco, Google, Intel, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Qualcomm were on the call. Verizon, meanwhile, wants further investigation before AFC applications are approved in the band. “Sharing in 6 GHz will only be effective with meaningful” AFC, it said, noting it earlier raised concerns. “We appreciate that OET has since requested supplemental information from the AFC applicants, including inquiry on issues that Verizon identified,” Verizon said: AFC proposals “continue to have gaps that need to be addressed before AFC operations commence, and we strongly urge OET to develop a robust testing regime that will ensure any authorized AFC systems will adequately protect incumbent operators in the band.”

T-Mobile said it kicked off its accelerator program Tuesday, with a focus on augmented-reality smart glasses. “Smart glasses will completely change how we connect and experience the world around us,” said John Saw, executive vice president-advanced and emerging technologies: “With T-Mobile 5G we have the capacity and performance needed to power high-bandwidth, immersive AR experiences for smart glasses, but it’s the developers and entrepreneurs that will bring these new applications to life.” Accelerator participants include: London-based Beem, Tokyo-based Mawari, and U.S. companies Krikey, Mohx-games, Pluto and VictoryXR, said a news release.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is ready to work with Commissioner Brendan Carr, who proposed Monday that wireless carriers be required to participate in the wireless network resiliency cooperative framework rather than a voluntary program, and that they be required to develop roaming arrangements (see 2205160067), she said in a statement to us. "Having traveled to Louisiana together after Hurricane Ida to learn firsthand how we can improve wireless network resiliency after disasters, I appreciate Commissioner Carr's continued work on this issue,” she said: “I look forward to coordinating and working productively with him to strengthen communications during emergencies." Verizon representatives spoke with a Carr aide on the issue, addressing “a potential framework for wireless providers’ use of roaming arrangements,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-346.

A report and order updating telecom service priority (TSP), wireless priority service (WPS) and government emergency telecommunications service (GETS) rules is expected to be approved by FCC commissioners Thursday with minimal changes from the draft circulated by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2204280059), FCC and industry officials said. No group or company reported meetings at the FCC to discuss the item since it was circulated. The order casts the changes as needed “to account for changes in technology.” It notes the current rules date to the establishment of the TSP system in 1988 and WPS in 2000. There are no current commission rules for GETS, which operates via contractual arrangements with the Department of Homeland Security. “These rules were originally developed when communications networks were primarily based on circuit-switched technologies,” the draft says: “As such, the rules do not address the advanced capabilities of next-generation communications technologies that support data and voice services, or the ability of users at different priority levels to share network capacity and resources.” The FCC sought comment in 2020 (see 2007160045) and, in response, Verizon and T-Mobile urged light-touch regulation (see 2011190036). The agency should “continue affording wireless providers sufficient flexibility to voluntarily offer WPS services that are negotiated with the government for public safety users through private contract,” CTIA said.