Next 6 GHz Wi-Fi Order Appears in Doubt for December FCC Meeting

The 6 GHz order was expected to be the last major spectrum item from Pai, who's likely to leave after Joe Biden is sworn in as president Jan. 20. In April, commissioners agreed 5-0, despite continuing concerns from incumbents, to allow sharing across 1,200 MHz of spectrum. One Wi-Fi advocate said Friday the order is “imploding.” FCC officials said proponents shouldn’t give up hope yet.

“The reason these issues were deferred to a further notice is because they raised some complicated issues for OET to resolve,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president at Public Knowledge: “Hopefully, they will be satisfied in time to add it to the agenda. This should underscore the seriousness the FCC applies to its interference analysis, despite what opponents of the 6 GHz order and FNPRM have said. The FCC will not move forward unless OET is satisfied that there is no risk of harmful interference. On the plus side, it means that once OET is satisfied, there is no reason to doubt the analysis.”

Feld said even if it's not proposed for the meeting, Pai could circulate an order for an electronic vote. “It would be highly unfortunate if this did not get approved before the end of the year, as it would potentially introduce months of needless delay as the FCC transitions into the next administration,” he said. “Authorizing VLP offers enormous benefits to consumers, and the sooner companies can start incorporating this into devices, the better."

“It would be a good idea to slow down and let the next FCC administration tackle the numerous interference protection issues that have not been resolved as yet at 6 GHz,” Enterprise Wireless Alliance President Mark Crosby told us.

“The proposal to allow very low power operation across the 6 GHz band lacks sufficient technical support and poses a substantial risk for interference to licensed operations,” a NAB spokesperson emailed. “A premature conclusion in this matter could lead to lasting harm.”

“Considering that the last decision was 5-0, we are seeing a delay, not a scuttling of the plan,” said Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner. “Sharing between unlicensed and licensed use would have been smarter because it would have paid for clearing out the incumbents and would have accelerated the process.”

"The 6 GHz VLP is an essential and rapidly evolving component of the Wi-Fi ecosystem,” said Alex Roytblat, Wi-Fi Alliance vice president-regulatory affairs. “With bipartisan support and ample technical evidence on the record, there is simply no reason to delay. And with regulators around the world recognizing the VLP potential, I remain optimistic that the FCC will decide in favor of U.S. technological leadership and public interest.”

In a filing posted Friday, Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, laid out concerns based on a call with an aide to Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.

“If the Commission is not ready to adopt power levels robust enough to facilitate the compelling innovation and consumer welfare that VLP and [low-power indoor] bring to the 5G wireless ecosystem, then the Commission should instead defer and adopt a Public Notice that is more specific about exactly what further information staff needs to achieve that outcome,” Calabrese said in docket 18-295. “Authorizing VLP at 14 dBm should not be controversial in light of the fact that 48 nations are on track to authorize VLP at this power level either across the entire band or at least in the 5925-6425 MHz sub-band that is home to the same high-power fixed-link incumbents that populate the U-NII-5 and U-NII-7 bands in the U.S.,” he said.

The Wi-Fi Alliance made technical arguments in a call with acting Chief Ron Repasi and others from OET. “Authorization of very low power unlicensed devices in the 6 GHz band at the power level proposed by Wi-Fi Alliance -- a maximum of 14 dBm [effective isotropic radiated power] -- would be firmly based on existing Commission regulatory precedent,” the alliance said. “In particular, we noted that the Commission has assumed that when transmit power control is employed -- as Wi-Fi Alliance proposes with respect to VLP devices at 6 GHz -- there will be a 6 dB power reduction,” the group said.

In light of the pandemic, “it is more imperative than ever that the Commission capitalize on all opportunities to ensure ample future availability of spectrum suitable for high-speed connectivity,” Google said.

"Rather than rush its proposal to further expand unlicensed operations in the 6 GHz band, the FCC should allow the multi-stakeholder group that it established to complete its work of evaluating interference to incumbent networks from the new unlicensed users that the commission permitted to operate in the band,” said Emily Fisher, Edison Electric Institute general counsel. “That way, users have an opportunity to identify problems and develop suggested practices for preventing harmful interference to incumbent networks that help to operate critical infrastructure, before a whole new tier of unlicensed operators are introduced into the band."