Proponents of cellular-vehicle-to-everything use of the 5.9 GHz band asked the FCC to waive its current rules, so they can deploy now so "consumers and travelers may begin to benefit from this state-of-the-art roadway and vehicle safety technology as soon as possible.” Proponents said they otherwise will have to wait for final FCC action on a rulemaking. The request was filed by Audi of America, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, the departments of transportation in Utah and Virginia, Aaeon Technology, Harman International Industries, Panasonic North America and other companies. The FCC’s November 2020 order (see 2011180043) was “prescient” in saying dedicated short-range communications isn’t the wave of the future, said the filing, posted Tuesday in docket 19-138: “The Waiver Parties are ready, willing, and able to deploy or facilitate deployment of C-V2X.” The request “signifies the collaborative efforts underway to ensure the successful implementation of C-V2X,” emailed Maxime Flament, 5G Automotive Association chief technology officer: “It also demonstrates the strong demand across the transportation industry to immediately deliver C-V2X safety services to American travelers, especially as deployments accelerate in other" world regions.
Qualcomm urged FCC action on sharing in the lower 37 GHz band and on the 70/80/90 GHz proceeding, in calls with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, said a filing posted Monday in docket 14-177. “Expanding mobile access to these important bands will enable new, highly reliable, advanced, diverse, and innovative uses, applications, and services in both indoor and outdoor environments.”
The Environmental Health Trust (EHT) asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for $174,347.25 in lawyers fees for the cost of its RF safety lawsuit against the FCC, under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). The court remanded 2019 RF rules to the FCC for further work (see 2108130073). “EHT Petitioners have satisfied all requirements for an award of attorneys’ fees under EAJA,” said a Friday filing in docket 20-1025. While giving the FCC an “extreme level of deference, the Court still found that the FCC had failed to meet the bare minimum requirements of the [Administrative Procedure Act] -- namely that the FCC failed to consider ‘relevant factors’ or to adequately set forth its decision-making process,” the group said.
The FCC deleted rules allowing states and territories to opt out of FirstNet, after none did so, says Monday's Federal Register. The order is effective Jan. 12.
The National Association of State Fire Marshals supported the Alarm Industry Communications Committee’s objections to AT&T’s pending shuttering of its 3G network (see 2109150041), in an FCC filing posted Friday in docket 21-304. “We are deeply concerned that millions of people in residential, commercial, and government buildings will not be afforded the critical protections normally provided by their fire alarm system if adequate time is not afforded for the alarm industry to undertake the needed upgrades,” fire marshalls warned.
AT&T and Nokia met with staff from across the FCC on a study Nokia did of 5G C-band base station equipment near Las Vegas McCarran International Airport. Details were redacted in Friday's filing in docket 18-122. AT&T and Verizon proposed temporary voluntary power limits and antenna restrictions on C-band deployments near airports as they seek to turn the band on in early 2022 (see 2111240062).
The Land Mobile Communications Council asked the FCC Friday to clarify that it doesn’t plan to start accepting T-band applications, beyond those from incumbent licensees, after a suspension public notice (see 2106210025) expires Dec. 19. LMCC also asked the FCC to renew the notice through June 30. A requirement to identify TV stations that applicants must protect “has presented significant obstacles to the orderly resumption of T-Band application and licensing processes contemplated in the Suspension Modification PN,” the council said it emailed two agency staffers, noting some are “ghost” stations that no longer exist. Some incumbents haven't filed applications because of the notice, the group said: The notice “has required others to modify their system parameters to less than optimal configurations that they plan to adjust when and if the protected television station list is corrected.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau OK'd a waiver for Cross Telephone, making the company eligible for tribal land bidding credits for licenses it bought in the citizens broadband radio service auction for four licenses covering the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. “Based on the facts of this case and evidence that this specific Tribal land is underserved, we find that waiver relief is warranted,” said a Thursday order. The bureau noted the Osage Nation supported the request.
Rakuten representatives argued for its open radio access network technology, in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington, said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-32. U.S. wireless carriers can deploy a cloud-native network running on the Rakuten platform "at lower cost, higher security, and more quickly than traditional wireless appliances in order to close the digital divide in rural areas,” the filing said. Former NTIA Administrator David Redl, now at Salt Point Strategies, was at the meeting for Rakuten.
Millimeter-wave technology for 5G is “redefining mobile experiences,” by enabling users “to access the full potential of 5G by utilizing untapped frequency bands above 24 GHz,” blogged Philippe Poggianti, vice president-business development at the Qualcomm Communications SARL R&D center in France. “This abundant spectrum can deliver the fastest available speeds, extreme capacity and low latency,” said Poggianti Thursday. Qualcomm thinks 5G mmWave is a “game changer” for businesses and consumers, though it’s best suited for “prosumers” for shooting, editing and uploading “hi-res 8K videos” to the cloud “in no time at all,” he said. “Once the work day is over, users can download feature films in seconds, engage in high-quality video chats in crowded spaces, and enjoy high-speed elite gaming with low-latency and desktop-level framerates.” Poggianti thinks mmWave is “the missing piece of the 5G puzzle and a complementary building block of a high-performance 5G system,” he said: “It’s essential for users -- and there’s also significant monetization potential and return on investment for operators.”