The FCC violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it amended rules incorporating four new equipment testing standards, and did so without the proper notice and comment protocol, alleged iFixit, Public Resource and Make Community in the opening brief Wednesday (23-1311) of their petition for review at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The opening brief asks that the court remand the rules to the FCC for what the three organizations contend should be a proper rulemaking (see 2311090002).
Advocates of the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program believe funding for both priorities remains available this year, despite Congress having omitted funding in the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act FY 2024 minibus spending package enacted last week (see 2403210067). Program backers acknowledge funding will be more difficult as the FY24 package was their best opportunity. They also admit appropriations politics will only prove trickier with Capitol Hill hunkering down for the 2024 election campaign.
Wi-Fi advocates and 6 GHz incumbents clashed on an FCC proposal that would expand parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low power (VLP) devices can operate without coordination, beyond the initial 850 MHz commissioners approved last year (see 2310190054). The VLP rules took effect March 9. 6 GHz incumbents have lined up in opposition to further changes (see 2403270055).
The FCC Space Bureau shot down SpaceX's request that its second-generation satellites operate in the 2 GHz, 1.6/2.4 GHz bands and 2020-2025 MHz band. In an order in Wednesday's Daily Digest, the bureau said the 1.6/2.4 GHz "Big" low earth orbit bands and 2 GHz band aren't available for additional mobile satellite system (MSS) operations and that the 2020-2025 MHz request didn't constitute a comprehensive proposal needed to sustain a satellite application. The bureau also dismissed as moot an EchoStar/Dish Network petition seeking dismissal of the modification application. SpaceX was seen facing an uphill battle to get 2 GHz and 1.6/2.4 GHz spectrum access (see 2402230027). In its order, the bureau said the FCC's "carefully rebalanced" band plan for the 1.6/2/4 GHz bands adopted in 2007 "does not envision an additional [code division multiple access] MSS system, much less a system of 7,500 space stations, operating in this band," as SpaceX proposed. It said opening up the 2 GHz band to additional operators requires first a rulemaking proceeding to determine if additional MSS systems should be authorized for operators in the bands. The bureau also put on public notice SpaceX's petition seeking revision of the agency's licensing and spectrum sharing framework for non-geostationary orbit MSS systems in the 1.6/2.4 GHz bands. Comments are due April 25, replies May 10, in RM-11975, according to the public notice in Daily Digest. It also put on public notice a separate SpaceX petition seeking revision of the 2 GHz MSS sharing plan. Comments there are also due April 25, replies May 10, in RM-11976, according to the PN. At a meeting this week with Space Bureau Chief Julie Kearney, EchoStar argued against SpaceX's 2 GHz petition, according to a filing Wednesday. "The mere action of seeking comment [on the petition] would provide it with undeserved credibility and threaten the certainty that has allowed EchoStar to innovate in this band leading to significant public interest benefits," the company said. EchoStar called it "well established that two widely deployed mobile services cannot share the same frequency band generally and for the 2 GHz band specifically."
An FCC proposal that requires broadcasters and MVPDs to report on blackouts related to retransmission consent negotiations exceeds FCC authority and wouldn’t collect useful information, all four broadcaster network affiliate groups said. Instead, they urged the agency to focus on reopening the record on reclassifying streaming services as MVPDs. The FCC’s attention “should be trained on seeking 'basic information' about the ever-changing, uber-competitive multichannel video programming distribution ecosystem” and virtual MVPDs, said the affiliate groups for Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS in reply comments posted Wednesday in docket 23-427. Adding regulations to traditional MVPDs while leaving competing linear streaming services "entirely free of such regulations” will not help consumers, the groups said. “The instant proceeding underscores that the Commission’s multichannel video distribution rules are becoming increasingly irrational, underinclusive, and out of step with current marketplace realities.”
Intrado representatives met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to discuss moving to next-generation 911, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 21-479. “The most important elements for accelerating NG911 deployment” include the commission adopting a “nationwide NG911 framework that accommodates current and already-planned deployments and creates the conditions to accelerate others” and “increased and faster direct” wireless and VoIP connections through basic session IP to emergency services IP networks, which “would support the delivery of 911 traffic in IP and reduce or eliminate the need for provider protocol translation workarounds,” Intrado said: “The majority of the nation’s current 911 traffic (wireless/VoIP) is ready for the Commission’s regulatory framework for NG911 delivery based on a State 911 Authority’s valid request demonstrating readiness and designation of a point of interconnection.”
Those urging the FCC to update its approach to net neutrality rules to address issues concerning emerging services like network slicing spoke with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, as they make the rounds at the agency (see 2403250018). “Clarify when providing a different type of service to applications evades the Open Internet protections,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-320. The advocates said the rules should apply unless “the particular type of application requires a specific level of quality of service, which is objectively necessary for the specific type of application,” which “cannot be met over a well-provisioned broadband Internet access service in compliance with the Open Internet protections.”
The National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF) and the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council are concerned about an FCC proposal that expands parts of the 6 GHz band where new very-low power (VLP) devices can operate (see 2310190054). Comments were posted on Wednesday in docket 18-295. The FCC has “recognized the public interest need to protect important radio astronomy and remote sensing observations at 6 GHz” and shouldn’t “undercut the protections already enacted in this proceeding,” CORF said. The 6650-6675.2 MHz band is important “for observations of methanol that play a critical role in research into star formation, astrochemistry, and precision astrometry,” the committee said. Frequencies between 6425 and 7250 MHz are used for passive microwave measurements, with 6425-7075 for ocean remote sensing, CORF said: “Observations at these frequencies are an essential component for both weather prediction and observing climate change.” NPSTC counseled against further liberalizing the rules for the 6 GHz band. “Public safety, critical infrastructure, commercial wireless and broadcast entities rely on this spectrum to support licensed microwave links for their respective operations,” the group said. It's clear from decisions made so far that the commission “has no intention of reversing course in this proceeding,” NPSTC said. If that’s the case “it is imperative that 6 GHz licensees have a viable mechanism to report and expeditiously resolve any 6 GHz harmful interference to critical microwave links that occurs.” The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) said studies show that unlicensed wideband VLP devices can operate at 14 dBm with a power spectral density of 1 dBm/MHz “without causing harmful interference into incumbent services, and that narrowband VLP devices will provide even greater margin.” The SIG has made a push for Bluetooth devices to be allowed to use 6 GHz spectrum (see [Ref2310270027]). “Bluetooth is an essential unlicensed technology that requires additional spectrum to support the volume growth of existing product categories and to support the technological expansion of important Bluetooth products,” the SIG said. The Wireless Innovation Forum told the FCC it’s “eager” to “support the development of geofencing systems,” one of the FCC’s proposals for protecting 6 GHz incumbents. The group said it could develop “specifications for data systems including any needed enhancements” and work on “propagation models to accommodate possible VLP mobility” and addressing “mobility in spectrum availability determinations.”
A Maine privacy bill with strict data minimization standards is moving to the final stages. The joint Judiciary Committee voted 7-1 Tuesday evening to say that the Democratic caucus’ LD-1977 “ought to pass,” while rejecting a Republican alternative (LD-1973). A nuanced exemption for broadband providers, currently in LD-1977, could mean that the proposed law would still apply to mobile services provided by a company that’s covered by the state’s 2019 ISP privacy law, two consumer privacy advocates said Wednesday.
CTIA is hopeful a legislative vehicle will be found soon that will restore general FCC auction authority, more than a year after it lapsed, CTIA Senior Vice President-Spectrum Umair Javed said Wednesday during a Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy webcast. “It sort of feels like there’s a lot of smoke, and maybe not fire yet,” Javed said. He hopes a bill floated by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will provide the needed “spark.”