The FCC Office of Communications Business Opportunities Tuesday issued a small-entity compliance guide explaining FCC rules for the 76-81 GHz band. Commissioners approved an order 3-0 in July 2017 expanding the 76-77 GHz spectrum allocation for vehicular radars to include the entire 76-81 GHz band and transitioning automotive radars out of the 24 GHz band (see 1707130056). The FCC “established an efficient regulatory framework for radar applications operating in the ... band, while also promoting more effective use of spectrum, fostering technological innovation, and providing a consistent set of technical rules and policies for vehicular radars and airport operations areas radars operating within the band,” the guide says.

Verizon remains enthusiastic about its choice to invest heavily in C-band spectrum during the 2021 auction, Joe Russo, president-global networks and technology, said at the Scotiabank financial conference Tuesday. Verizon went big in the C-band auction, bidding $45.4 billion, plus $8 billion in incentive costs to satellite operators (see 2102250046). C-band has “great propagation characteristics,” Russo said. “And the usage of that C-band spectrum has just been exploding as more and more customers get access to it and more and more customers buy our premium plans with premium devices.” C-band also gives Verizon the capacity to offer fixed wireless access, he said. Russo said FWA requires “really good modeling around RF propagation” and “really great capacity management capabilities.” Verizon has focused on both. Moreover, its mobile network remains Verizon's top priority, with FWA possible where it has excess capacity, he said. The average 160 MHz of C-band Verizon has in each market gives the carrier lots of capacity, he said. Russo noted its FWA product offers 300 Mbps service. “When we look at even peak volumes that come out of a consumer's home, even the biggest homes with streaming and gaming and all these kinds of things, customers are using far less than that,” he said. Peak demands for top tier fiber and FWA customers average 100 Mbps or less, he said. Verizon now has more than 3 million FWA customers, with a goal of 5 million-6 million by the end of next year, which means about 350,000 adds per quarter, Russo said. “We're well ahead of that pace.”

Last month's Super Bowl demonstrated the importance of wireless mics, Shure said in a filing at the FCC posted Monday in docket 21-115. “Wireless microphone technology was, again, key to bringing to viewers the excitement and thrill of the much-anticipated 2024 championship game as well as a world-class halftime performance, pre-game and post-game performances,” Shure said: “There simply is no room for failure when the National Anthem and the Super Bowl Halftime Show are being viewed by record-setting audiences worldwide.” Shure noted the importance of a recent FCC order allowing the use of wireless multichannel audio system technology (see 2402150037).

The global wireless charging market is poised for significant growth, forecast to jump to $16 billion by 2029, up from an expected $6.4 billion this year, ResearchAndMarkets.com said Monday. "An ever-increasing demand for wireless charging within the consumer electronics sector solidifies its position as the front-runner in the market, propelled by the seamless and convenient charging solutions it offers for devices like smartphones, tablets and smartwatches,” the report said.

Representatives of OpenPolicy and Human Security warned about risks posed by “backdoor malware” from devices manufactured in China. Meeting with aides to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, the representatives discussed the FCC’s proposed cyber mark program, teed up for a March 14 commissioner vote (see 2402220059). The rules should cover all devices, said a filing posted Monday in docket 23-239: “Attacks can also be commenced on mobile devices, and general-purpose products such as tablets, and any explicit exclusion of such connected products is inappropriate.”

The FCC Public Safety Bureau said the Huron County, Ohio, Emergency Management Agency can conduct a wireless emergency alert system test March 20, one day later than the county requested (see 2402200072). The revised starting time is 9:45 a.m. EDT. The county asked for the delay because March 19 is election day in Ohio and the state, in conjunction with the National Weather Service, will be conducting its annual statewide tornado drill March 20, the bureau said.

Seventeen cable companies and other Wi-Fi advocates, spectrum sharing advocates, and defense and aeronautics companies Monday released a letter sent to NTIA about implementation of the national spectrum strategy. It warned against “anti-competitive efforts, modeled after China’s goals, to clear the 3 GHz and 7 GHz bands for exclusive licensing to a small handful of legacy carriers.” NTIA is set to release the plan March 14 (see 2402090059). “The decisions made … will directly affect the nation’s ability to maintain and promote our global competitiveness, national security, and national security technology leadership with our allies,” the letter said: “We urge the NTIA to adopt an Implementation Plan that is aggressive in expanding the pie for a wide variety of public, commercial, and national security uses.” The plan should focus on “accelerating the development and adoption” of spectrum sharing technologies and coexistence frameworks, the letter said. It noted the success of sharing in the 6 GHz band and the citizens broadband radio service band. Signers included the American Library Association, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, Federated Wireless, Deere & Company, Lockheed Martin, NCTA, the Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge, Midcontinent Communications, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, Spectrum for the Future, WifiForward and the Wireless ISP Association.

Electronic Privacy Information Center representatives spoke with aides to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks on the group’s concerns about the cyber mark program, teed up for a March 14 commissioner vote (see 2402220059). EPIC discussed “potential standards for the Trust Mark that could improve security and privacy protections for consumers,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 23-239. Representatives of the ioXt Alliance, which is focused on IoT security and privacy, met with an aide to Commissioner Anna Gomez. They discussed “the Program’s scope, potential pathways for third-party certification and self-attestation, development of the IoT registry, and the need for robust consumer education and awareness building to promote use of the Mark.”

The FCC approved six-month extensions of a mandate to rip and replace Huawei and ZTE equipment from telecom networks under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program for various carriers, in a notice in Friday’s Daily Digest. The Wireline Bureau has been handling extension requests on a carrier-by-carrier basis. Advantage Cellular’s deadline to remove, replace and dispose of covered equipment and services was extended from March 10 to Sept. 10. NE Colorado Cellular got two different dates for parts of its network -- March 9 to Sept. 9 and from April 6 to Oct. 6. Other extensions granted include: Panhandle, from April 18 to Oct. 1; Stealth Communications, from March 29 to Sept. 29; and United Wireless, April 21 to Oct. 21. “The Bureau strongly encourages recipients that intend to file a petition for an extension to do so as promptly as possible after determining that their circumstances meet the standard for an extension established in the statute and the Commission’s implementing rules, and well in advance of the recipient’s deadline, so the Bureau is able to fully consider and grant or deny the petition before the recipient’s term expires,” the notice said.

CTIA countered recent arguments by Spectrum for the Future that wireless carriers don’t face the spectrum shortage they claim and don’t necessarily need the lower 3 GHz band to be allocated for full-power, licensed use (see 402260069). CTIA emphasized cable operators' support for the group. “Cable’s reaction to significant loss in market share is to cut off access to the raw material that would supercharge competition -- dedicated licensed spectrum,” CTIA said in a blog post. Cable operators were shielded from competition for decades, “but today, often for the first time, they face a real competitive threat in the form of 5G home broadband,” CTIA said. A study last year found that carriers need 400 MHz of licensed spectrum in the next three years and nearly 1,500 by 2032 “to meet that demand, fully taking into account 5G efficiencies, additional infrastructure and offload,” CTIA noted. The U.S. has allocated just 450 MHz of mid-band for licensed 5G use “with no plans for more,” the group said. A Spectrum for the Future a spokesperson emailed, "Innovative 5G technologies are being driven by a broad range of commercial users, anchor institutions, and technology companies, not the Big Three legacy carriers." Mobile phones lean more heavily on Wi-Fi connection than traditional carrier networks, the spokesperson said. “America must prioritize diversity in spectrum ownership and use cases -- not rely on exclusive licensing models rooted in the technology of the 1990s." CTIA’s "attacks" are "unsurprising given the cable industry’s recent success in bringing new competition and offering substantial consumer savings to nearly 15 million mobile wireless customers,” an NCTA spokesperson emailed. “Casting aspersions at competitors can grab headlines, but cherry-picked facts and misleading assertions do not form the basis of sound policy.”