Aeronet representatives discussed the company’s proposed use of the 70/80 GHz bands to provide “high-speed, ‘in-home’ equivalent broadband experiences to consumers in planes and on ships,” meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Joel Taubenblatt, according to a filing posted Monday in docket 20-133. “Aeronet also expressed its strong support for the Commission moving forward to adopt this item at the January Open Meeting,” the company said. Aeronet has sought tweaks to a draft order on the spectrum set for a vote Thursday, which have proven controversial (see 2401190040). The discussion focused on maritime operations. “Aeronet emphasized its view that ship-to-aerostat links do not represent an interference risk and noted that the Comsearch study in the record concludes that ship-to-aerostat links ‘would not be harmful,’” the filing said.
Senate committees will take a proactive stance on AI legislation in 2024 now that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has wrapped up his AI forums, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told us last week.
The U.S. attained generally positive results at the World Radiocommunication Conference, but 6 GHz band issues remain, Steve Lang, the State Department official who headed the U.S. WRC delegation, told an American Enterprise Institute event Monday. In contrast, other speakers argued WRC wasn’t a clean U.S. win.
A draft order on making the FCC's disaster information reporting system mandatory for cable, wireline, wireless and VoIP providers hasn’t seen many changes since circulation and is expected to be approved at a commissioners' open meeting Thursday, agency and industry officials told us (see 2401040064). The item, in docket 21-346, also includes a Further NPRM that would seek comment on extending mandatory DIRS reports to broadcasters, satellite providers and broadband internet access service providers.
Telecom and media companies support the intentions behind FCC and FTC “junk fees” regulatory actions, but implementation raises questions and potential compliance headaches, industry representatives said. At an FCBA event Monday, Brownstein Hyatt financial services lawyer Leah Dempsey said many industries see the White House and regulatory agency focus on junk fees as "kind of a campaign issue." She said President Joe Biden will likely be "touting the war on junk fees" at his next State of the Union address. Dempsey also said there are concerns that agencies are coming to predetermined outcomes on fees.
The space industry is in disagreement over FCC reliance on case-by-case reviews of orbital debris disclosures. Pushing back on SpaceX criticisms of the orbital debris order on reconsideration on January's FCC agenda (see 2401180064), Viasat said Friday in docket 18-313 that different satellite systems pose various space sustainability risks. Accordingly, "there is nothing improper" about taking a case-by-case approach to application reviews. While backing a case-by-case approach, Astroscale said that an "expansive reliance on case-by-case analysis, without a strategy for evolution, will inhibit efficiency." It urged that the draft order include a commitment that the Space Bureau will issue guidance on orbital debris mitigation information disclosures and case-by-case reviews. With such guidance, operators wouldn't have to rely as much on "identify[ing] emerging disclosure precedents across hundreds of disparate" international communications filing system files, it said.
The FCC Media Bureau initiated a proceeding that will revoke the licenses of two Daniel Stratemeyer-owned radio stations due to nearly $25,000 in unpaid regulatory and administrative fees, according to an order to pay or show cause in Friday’s Daily Digest. The delinquent fees are for WRIK(AM) Brookport, Illinois, and KZMA(FM) Naylor, Missouri, from fiscal years 2010, 2012 and 2013, the filing said. The FCC sent the bills to the Treasury Department for collection, and Stratemeyer has 60 days to show the fees are paid, or his stations could lose their licenses.
T-Mobile representatives laid out the carrier’s stance on spectrum used for supplemental coverage from space (SCS), holding a series of meetings with FCC commissioner aides. The FCC shouldn’t create a satellite allocation in the U.S. Table of Frequency Allocations permitting SCS operations, said a filing posted Friday in docket 23-65. “Adding a Mobile-Satellite Service (MSS) allocation, either on a co-primary or secondary basis is unnecessary for the provision of SCS,” T-Mobile said: “Current allocations for terrestrial spectrum should remain as-is, confirming, among other things, that the affected spectrum is allocated for terrestrial purposes.” Terrestrial licensees already holding licenses that cover their subscribers’ devices should “obtain a second license for the same devices, covering the times when those subscribers receive service from space stations,” T-Mobile said.
The Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition objected to changes Aeronet sought (see 2401120048) to the FCC’s draft 70 and 80 GHz band order, set for a vote Thursday (see 2401040064). The FCC shouldn’t allow “Aeronet’s eleventh-hour ex parte filings to derail adoption of the draft order,” said a filing posted Friday on docket 20-133. The agency’s practice of releasing draft orders before open meetings “has appropriately allowed interested parties to ask the Commission to clarify the language in an order before adoption,” the coalition said: “However, Aeronet’s proposal amounts to a wholesale change in the proposed rule that would eliminate a coordination trigger protecting existing [fixed service] links.” CTIA raised similar concerns (see 2401180062).
The Electric Power Research Institute briefed the FCC about the analysis it used that led to file challenges to various public trials of 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) systems (see 2312220043). EPRI submitted test vectors consisting of locations along fixed-service system centerlines "with line of sight to an FS receive station,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-352. “The AFC operator response for each test vector was compared to a free space path loss (FSPL) calculation,” EPRI said: “Locations where it was found that the AFC operator assigned co-channel maximum power spectral density (PSD) was more than 3 dB in excess of the maximum PSD based on the FSPL calculation were included in the challenge letter.” EPRI understands the metrics it used were different from those the FCC specified, the filing said.