As Tropical Storm Francine approaches the Gulf Coast, Federated Wireless asked the FCC for a waiver of rules that require environmental sensing capability systems to protect federal incumbents in the citizens broadband radio service band from harmful interference. The storm is expected to bring “intense winds and rainfall that could cause widespread power outages,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-319. “If such outages occur, the Impacted Systems will lose commercial power and be unable to operate normally,” Federated said.
A group of companies and associations, including Federated Wireless and Charter Communications, urged the FCC in comments this week to adopt a nonexclusive, nonauctioned shared licensed framework in the lower 37 GHz band. The band is one of five targeted for further study in the administration’s national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048). Comments were due Monday in docket 24-243 and most were posted on Tuesday.
With Congress back for a three-week sprint before Election Day, Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan remains convinced lawmakers will fully fund a program that removes unsecure gear from U.S. networks. In an interview, Donovan also said he expects at least some groups will seek reconsideration of the FCC’s recent order creating a 5G Fund.
Comments are due Oct. 7, replies Nov. 5, in docket 17-258, on an August NPRM from the FCC asking about further changes to rules for the citizens broadband radio service band, said a Friday notice in the Federal Register. The FCC adopted initial CBRS rules in 2015, launching a three-tier model for sharing 3.5 GHz spectrum, while protecting naval radars. The NPRM explores further changes (see 2408160031).
New, AI-driven technologies could offer an alternative to how spectrum sharing is done, experts said Wednesday during an RCR Wireless webinar. Panelists said AI could provide options to the citizens broadband radio service and increase dynamic sharing of government spectrum.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Congress Friday to reach a legislative deal allowing dynamic spectrum sharing on DOD-controlled bands. Pompeo is a Rivada Networks board member (see 2305230040). Frequencies that have military incumbent systems, most notably the 3.1-3.45 GHz band, have been a stumbling block in lawmakers’ attempts to reach a consensus on a broad spectrum legislative package (see 2408150039). Proposals “for Congress to grant sole control over critical bands to private firms, pushing the Pentagon, and their missions, aside … would be a costly mistake that would put American national security at risk,” Pompeo said in a Fox News opinion piece. “Massive amounts of military equipment, from radar to weapons systems, have already been developed and optimized specifically for the spectrum bands in question, and changing that … would take decades to complete and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.” That “unnecessarily grants our adversaries a victory and makes us less safe.” It also “discourages competition and opens the door to companies like Huawei and ZTE, the Chinese Communist Party’s state-backed spyware peddlers, to gain an even bigger share of global wireless hardware manufacturing.” Congress “needs to step up and find a solution that meets the needs of both consumers and our military, and spectrum sharing could be just such a solution.” Pompeo cited the FCC’s three-tiered model for sharing spectrum on the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band and the more recent CBRS 2.0 framework (see 2406120027) as successful models. “Shared licensing democratizes spectrum access, making it accessible to a broad array of users,” which “is critical to unlocking America’s economic potential,” Pompeo said. “The Biden administration could have moved forward with this shared framework last year, but they missed their opportunity. Predictably, it has shown no desire to tackle this problem, as its National Spectrum Strategy simply calls for more studies. This is not leadership.”
The Wireless Innovation Forum announced the formation of the Highly Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Task Group. The organization will examine how sharing based on the citizens radio service band model can have applications in other bands. Google’s Andrew Clegg will head the project; he also is WInnForum’s chief technology officer. The group is expected to release a report or recommendation by February 2025, a Wednesday news release said. The release mentions the lower 3 GHz band, a top target of carriers for full-power licensed use (see 2405060051). “The purpose of this project is to start with the best practices identified in CBRS spectrum sharing, and then attempt to simplify and optimize these practices for future applications, including the 3.1 GHz band” Clegg said: “Future spectrum sharing will inevitably face a greater number of incumbent systems and a need for more rapid dynamic reconfiguration, and WInnForum is up to the challenge of adapting what we’ve done in CBRS. It’s the best place to start, given the sharing expertise we’ve developed over nearly ten years.” CommScope, Federated Wireless, Nokia, Sony, the Wireless ISP Association “and others to be announced” are backing the project.
Wi-Fi advocates and wireless carriers offered the NTIA different versions of the 6G world in some of the first comments made public in response to a May request for comment on the state of 6G development (see 2405230010). Comments were due Wednesday. NTIA is expected to eventually post them.
Select Spectrum, which runs an online spectrum marketplace, announced Tuesday it's making citizens broadband radio service priority access licenses available nationwide. “Building upon the success of the Spectrum Marketplace in facilitating several hundred 2.5 GHz transactions, we are thrilled to add a range of capabilities including the availability of CBRS PALs on a national scale,” said Andreas Bitzarakis, managing director-broadband. Select Spectrum “enables users to geographically partition licenses to acquire rights to exactly the coverage they need to match their specific requirements,” according to a news release.
FCC commissioners unanimously approved an NPRM on further changes to rules for the citizens broadband radio service band that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated two months ago. The Biden administration has focused on sharing models based on CBRS as part of its assessment of the future of spectrum. The agency posted the NPRM on Friday. Comment deadlines will come in a Federal Register notice.