The National Science Foundation announced a $25 million investment over five years in SpectrumX, a spectrum innovation center to “address the growing demand for usage of the radio spectrum.” SpectrumX is made up of a coalition of 27 institutions led by the University of Notre Dame, NSF said Tuesday. The FCC looks forward to working with the center, said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. "Exploring creative mechanisms for spectrum management that will support new wireless technologies is a central focus of the FCC’s work -- and this forward-looking innovation center will enhance our capacity to fulfill this mission,” she said. The center will “develop new ways to share and manage the radio spectrum; act as a hub for collaboration among researchers, industry, government agencies and others; and develop the diverse workforce needed for future growth,” the foundation said.
Shure representatives urged the FCC to act on wireless multichannel audio systems rules, teed up in an April NPRM (see 2104220056). A filing posted Tuesday in docket 21-115 noted WMAS “enables deployments to accommodate a variety of required channel capacities and available bandwidths, preserving spectral efficiency in the case of smaller bandwidth deployments.” The wireless mic maker spoke with staff from the Office of Engineering and Technology and the Wireless and Media bureaus.
Managed access systems (MAS) are effective in curbing contraband cellphones in prisons, but other technologies aren’t ready for widespread use, industry commenters responded to an FCC July Further NPRM (see 2107120057). The FNPRM asks “whether other interdiction approaches have become feasible" and CTIA thinks "they have not,” said its filing, posted Tuesday in docket 13-111. Other solutions “remain either problematic for legitimate consumers, technically infeasible, a cybersecurity risk, or they are unavailable” now, the group said. Evolved MAS “builds upon existing MAS technologies to provide more real-time and automated adjustment to changes in the RF environment,” AT&T commented. The systems are “more cost effective to deploy because they can easily be upgraded” and interoperable, AT&T said. T-Mobile said quiet zones, geofencing and network-based solutions and beacon systems aren’t ready. The FCC sought comment on alternatives a year ago, the provider noted: “It now seeks to refresh the record on whether there have been technological, economic, policy, and/or legal developments sufficient to overcome those challenges. There have not.”
Open radio access networks “should be industry led, but ... there is a role for governments to play,” said Jaisha Wray, NTIA associate administrator-international affairs. Government “recognizes that many network operators in the United States, and really across the world, are facing limited options,” she told the virtual OpenRAN Forum Tuesday: The limits “can reduce supply chain resilience and contribute to higher prices for operators and consumers in the long run,” she said. The biggest motivation for carriers opting for ORAN is wanting more choices of gear suppliers, said Stefan Pongratz, Dell’Oro vice president. “They want to have a broader selection from the get-go." U.S. government efforts against Huawei are working and the Chinese company had a 3%-4% drop between last year and today in global market share, he said. Globally, providers spend as much as $40 billion a year on RAN equipment, he said. Dell’Oro estimates 80% of operators are investing in ORAN or considering doing so, he said: “It’s a broad-based movement. It’s strong right now.” NTIA, which held 5G listening sessions (see 2102250056), is continuing its focus on open networks, noted Wray. ORAN is ready to be deployed and the performance is “at par” with legacy systems, said Stefano Cantarelli, Mavenir executive vice president. “We have had several implementations where we have seen all of the requirements of operators being met.” More radio units are coming to market, he said. Analog Devices first became involved with ORAN three years ago and knew then that development would take time, said Joseph Barry, vice president of the company’s Wireless Communications Business Unit. “It’s essentially on track in terms of deployment at scale” though this pandemic slowed things down by “one or two quarters,” he said: “We’re seeing a lot of good progress in the near term but also a lot to be done in the next one to two years in terms of its ultimate large-scale deployment.” Work remains on power savings, beam forming and digital functionalities needed for massive multiple-input and multiple-output radios, he said.
Wireless ISP Association representatives urged FCC action permitting outdoor use of the 5.9 GHz band without waivers or grants of special temporary authority, in a call with an aide to Commissioner Nathan Simington. With more than 200 STA grants, WISPs show “that fixed wireless providers can use this spectrum without causing cochannel interference to Intelligent Transportation System operations or federal operations,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 19-138: “The public interest would be better served by allowing these small providers to use … resources for deploying broadband service rather than for applying for STAs and waivers.” WISPA also sought point-to-multipoint operations with an effective isotropic radiated power of up to +36 decibel-milliwatts.
T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile retail presence will more than double via Walmart, said the carrier Monday. New Walmart shopping locations are to open Oct. 18 and will bring 5G to more of the country, said Jon Freier, executive vice president-T-Mobile Consumer Group. E-commerce continues to grow, but retail stores “remain one of the primary places where wireless customers pick up devices and service,” he said. Consumers can shop for phones at Metro by T-Mobile displays with an option of three unlimited 5G monthly plans. Beginning Nov. 1, the premium Magenta Max plan will be available, including Netflix on Us and one free year of Apple TV+. T-Mobile’s Extended Range 5G covers 305 million people; 165 million of those are covered with Ultra Capacity 5G, which is expected to cover 200 million people by year-end. Other carriers at Walmart are AT&T, Verizon, Straight Talk and Tracfone.
The FCC is looking to help wireless mic users, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel assured Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., in a letter posted Friday. “Wireless microphones are an important part of our civic and cultural lives,” she said. Rosenworcel noted the April NPRM on wireless multichannel audio systems (see 2104220056).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit laid out a final schedule Friday for oral argument, scheduled for Sept. 17, on challenges to FCC 6 GHz rules (see 2104160053). AT&T, APCO, electric utilities and other plaintiffs had appealed the order. Petitioners get 12 minutes, followed by three minutes on issues raised by APCO. The government gets 12 minutes to respond, with three minutes for intervenors defending the FCC, said an order (in Pacer) in docket 20-1190.
Dish Network's Dish Wireless is seeking FCC special temporary authority for 90 days to use two 600 MHz band licenses owned by Bluewater Wireless to test and validate equipment for its open radio access network-compliant 5G network. Dish plans to use the licenses to test carrier aggregation (CA) functionality paired with Dish-licensed 600 MHz spectrum, said a filing posted Thursday. Dish is “unable to adequately test CA using only its own licensed spectrum due to insufficient bandwidth in the two test markets and because the contemplated CA tests require non-contiguous 600 MHz spectrum blocks,” the carrier said.
Qualcomm representatives told staff from the FCC Wireless and International bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology that the company’s C-band chipsets aren't a risk to aviation spectrum, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-122. “The level of emissions into the 4.2 to 4.4 GHz band from mobile equipment using its chipsets comply with [3rd Generation Partnership Project] specifications and that the actual levels of emissions … can be significantly lower depending on the specific deployment configuration, transmitter operating parameters, and antenna configuration.”.