Increased spectrum congestion shows the need for the FCC to put more emphasis on the use of probabilistic interference assessments, said Jeffrey Westling, American Action Forum technology and innovation policy director, in a report. Traditional spectrum management decisions “were based on impact estimates using deterministic, single-value calculations that employ worst-case scenarios,” he said Monday: “This approach results in an overly conservative management regime that often prevents the deployment of new services even if the likelihood of harmful interference, and the potential impact if harmful interference did occur, remained relatively insignificant.” Probabilistic interference assessments “better account for the actual operating parameters in the field, as well as the actual impact the interference will have on operations,” he said. They “provide regulators with a more complete picture of the radio environment when determining whether new services can be deployed and operate, allowing for increased spectrum efficiency in the United States.”

Consultants the Besen Group estimated the U.S. market for private 5G networks market will reach $3.2 billion by 2026, in a report Monday. The market segments are warehouse/storage, office space, service, mercantile, public assembly, religious worship, education, food service, hospitality, healthcare, food sales and public order/safety, Besen said.

This will be “a breakout year for fixed wireless access,” but only if the government gets policy right, Free State Foundation Director-Policy Studies Seth Cooper blogged Monday. Cooper warned against restoring net neutrality rules, last revised under former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, saying “to keep investment in broadband networks strong, there should be no going back to Title II.” Infrastructure siting rules are important, he said. FWA should also be eligible for more than $48 billion in connectivity money that will be awarded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, he said. “There has been concern that only services offering fiber connections will be eligible for grants,” he said. “But 5G-enabled FWA may be the best technology solution for connecting certain hard-to-reach geographic areas.”

Counsel for Liberty Mobile Puerto Rico and Liberty Mobile USVI urged FCC Wireline Bureau staff to approve their request for a ruling that AT&T should port to Liberty 24,000 wireless numbers assigned to 16,000 customers acquired as part of Liberty’s buy of AT&T’s wireless business in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 2203020066). “Liberty’s requested relief is technically feasible,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 22-68: No one “cited any Commission rule or ruling, any court decision, or indeed any other material, that questioned or undermined Liberty’s explanation of how the Commission’s existing number portability rules apply to Liberty’s (unique) situation” and “the Commission has never imposed any geographic or location-based limitations on wireless-to-wireless ports or the numbers that may be ported between wireless carriers.”

The FirstNet Authority Board and its committees will meet 11 am. EDT May 4, said a Monday Federal Register notice. The meeting is at the University of New Hampshire-Durham, but the public can watch only online “due to restrictions on the number of people who can be present.” FirstNet gained 300,000 subscribers Q1, to hit more than 3.3 million connections, AT&T officials said during an earnings call last week.

The FCC exempted from ex parte filing requirements oral or written communications with agency staff as part of the National Spectrum Consortium’s Partnering to Advance Trusted and Holistic Spectrum Solutions (PATHSS) Task Group’s work on the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2110270050). There's “little substantive overlap” between the work of PATHSS and FCC proceedings on the band, the Wireless Bureau said in a Monday notice. If the commission relies on any presentations made to the group as part of its work on pending proceedings it will “place such information in the record and provide the public an opportunity to comment,” the FCC said.

Comments are due May 25, replies June 9, on the one part of the agency’s 2020 6 GHz order on which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit asked the FCC for further explanation. The FCC made clear in a notice last month (see 2203110046) it wants comments only on “broadcasters’ experience in the 2.4 GHz band, how that experience relates to the kinds of contention-based protocol operations prescribed for indoor use in the 6 GHz rules, and whether the 2.4 GHz experience warrants reservation of a portion of the 6 GHz band for mobile indoor operations or any other modification to the Commission’s 6 GHz rules.” The main docket is 18-295, said a Monday Federal Register notice.

Acting on the 6 GHz automated frequency coordination system operator approval process is important to “the overall success of the ban,” a representative of Cisco and Hewlett Packard Enterprise said in a call with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “When assigning channels AFCs should consider all relevant technical parameters, including the appropriate propagation model, confidence intervals, reliability factors, building entry loss, and power,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-295. In December, 14 organizations sought FCC certification to be an AFC system operator in the band (see 2112010002).

Changes from the drafts of a notice of inquiry on receiver performance and a Further NPRM on wireless emergency alerts appear to follow changes highlighted by FCC staff Thursday, based on side-by-side comparisons. Both were approved 4-0 and were listed in Friday’s Daily Digest. The NOI had more changes, focused on promoting innovation (see 2204210049). The final version uses the word innovation 48 times, compared with 38 in the draft. In one change, a question on how the FCC could “assess voluntary approaches in the context of innovation and the marketplace” now includes the words “and which approaches would be most or least effective when it comes to facilitating innovation while promoting improved receiver performance.” The FNPRM now asks how various approaches on receivers “might affect innovation in spectrum utilization.” The FCC asks: “How might these measures affect the development and costs and benefits of innovation associated with new wireless use cases? Compared to the Commission’s approach to receiver performance to date, how might any of the approaches … potentially serve to promote innovation in spectrum use, including not only in receiver but in transmitter design and performance as well?” The final version also raises new public safety and national security concerns. “Would improvements in receiver interference immunity performance (e.g., selectivity to reject unwanted emissions) enhance the ability of receivers to reject jamming and spoofing attempts?” it asks: “How might the Commission best consider the trade-offs concerning potentially affected stakeholders?” The FNPRM also adds a paragraph on the life cycle of devices. “Should receivers that may meet a standard when they are deployed be upgraded or replaced in the future to merit interference protection under the Commission’s rules if new receiver standards are developed that provide increased interference immunity?” it asks: “We note that different systems have different expected lifecycles. We request comment on whether the Commission should consider a specified time frame from the date a receiver was deployed after which it should be expected to meet newer standards.” The biggest change to the FNPRM from the draft addresses questions raised by CTIA on the technical feasibility of new requirements in light of current cell-broadcast technology, as officials indicated Thursday (see 2204210050). “If it is not feasible for Participating CMS [commercial mobile service] Providers to collect this information from WEA networks and devices as currently designed, then what network or device firmware or software changes would be needed for Participating CMS Providers to comply with the proposed reporting requirements?” the FNPRM asks: “How much time would be necessary to complete these steps?” The FNPRM also updates numbers, noting that as of April 7 “639 emergency management agencies across the nation have issued 62,819 WEA alerts,” compared with 619 agencies and 61,764 alerts tabulated earlier.

T-Mobile said Wednesday it topped 1 million Home Internet customers, a year after the 5G service launched. About 40 million households nationwide are eligible to subscribe. “T-Mobile’s remarkable growth in broadband -- a market that’s full of big behemoth corporations -- just underscores how hungry customers are for a real alternative to the Carriers and the Landline ISPs,” said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert.