Officials from Microsoft and TV white spaces technology company Adaptrum called the FCC about outstanding questions on the use of the white spaces for broadband. The companies met last week with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai, Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp and others at the FCC. “We discussed the need to resolve the Channel 37 and Database Accuracy proceedings as soon as possible to provide regulatory certainty for all involved,” said a filing in docket 16-56 by ex-Commissioner Robert McDowell on a meeting that included Adaptrum CEO Haiyun Tang. They sought "regulatory certainty regarding the available spectrum for rural broadband to foster continued investment and increased participation in the Rural Airband Initiative” by Microsoft.
The FCC notified Victor Rosario, of Brooklyn, New York, of potential penalties because a Bitcoin mining device traced to his home allegedly interferes with T-Mobile’s 700 MHz network. A miner is a device used to verify such transactions. “The Antminer s5 Bitcoin Miner in use at your residence is causing harmful interference to T-Mobile’s operation,” said a notice to Rosario. “Continued operation of this device that causes harmful interference after your receipt of this warning constitutes a violation … and could subject the operator to severe penalties, including ... substantial monetary fines, in rem arrest action to seize the offending radio equipment, and criminal sanctions including imprisonment.” The letter asks for answers to questions including whether the device remains in use. Rosario didn't comment.
FCC efforts at opening up spectrum toward enabling 5G aren't singularly focused on enabling mobile technologies, with it trying to clear the route for continued and expanded satellite operations, said International Bureau Chief Tom Sullivan at the European 5G Conference, in prepared remarks posted Wednesday. "We do not see this as a zero-sum game." He said the FCC has used flexible sharing that promotes coexistence, citing the spectrum frontiers order allowing more flexible earth station siting in the 28 GHz band. He said the U.S. experience shows such flexible approaches should get attention at the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference. A successful WRC-19 would flow from such approaches to harmonized spectrum and a recognition that identifying bands for global use "does not have to be the zero-sum game it once was," he said. Sullivan said technology such as radio tuning ranges means global harmonization isn't limited to all regions having identical spectrum allocations.
Verizon said it became the first carrier to make an over-the-air call using a new 5G radio prototype under the 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s recently approved initial 5G standard, a call placed earlier this month at Nokia’s Murray Hill, New Jersey, facility. The carrier Monday said it used a Qualcomm handset and Nokia 5G network technology.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment on a waiver request by Sensible Medical Innovations for a system that uses ultra-wideband (UWB) medical imaging to obtain lung fluid measurements for congestive heart failure patients in a noninvasive way. Rules restrict such systems to operations between 3100 MHz and 10,600 MHz, OET said. Sensible said its system "must operate in the range of 1005 MHz to 1709 MHz, because accurate lung fluid detection requires frequencies that can penetrate the body, which it claims is not technologically possible” with the higher frequencies, OET said. The company also sought a waiver of testing procedures and of a requirement that users of UWB imaging devices coordinate deployment with NTIA through the FCC. Comments are due at the FCC March 12, replies March 27, in docket 18-39.
Representatives of the American Hospital Association and its American Society for Healthcare Engineering met with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, plus the four other commissioners, on wireless medical telemetry service issues, said a filing in docket 14-165. Topics covered included “the need to ensure WMTS services are able to operate free from interference from TV White Space devices” and the “need and opportunity for new spectrum in the 1.4 GHz band,” the groups said. The groups discussed AHA comments in the rural healthcare proceeding.
Ericsson said Thursday it launched 5G radio access network commercial software based on the recently approved 3rd Generation Partnership Project new radio standard for 5G. “Operators who want to be early with 5G now have the essential pieces for launching 5G networks,” said Fredrik Jejdling, head-business area networks. Ericsson added a category of radio products for cities, saying: “These radios will be on building facades with a smaller footprint but the necessary strength to secure network efficiency and coverage.”
The MVDDS 5G Coalition asked the FCC to act on its petition for rulemaking seeking use of the 12.2-12.7 GHz band for 5G broadband (see 1604260068). “The Coalition supports making additional mid-band spectrum available for the delivery of next-generation wireless broadband services,” said the multichannel video distribution and data service group. “Next-generation wireless broadband networks need high-, mid- and low-band spectrum to function.” Mid-band spectrum, between 3.7 GHz and 24 GHz, “promises to serve as a critical foundation for 5G services because the spectrum combines the favorable coverage characteristics of lower frequency bands with the high-capacity capability of high-frequency spectrum,” the coalition said in docket 17-183.
Verizon supports recent actions by more than a dozen states, including Arizona, Iowa, North Carolina and Delaware, to enact laws “modernizing wireless facilities siting,” Verizon officials said they told an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. “Even as the Commission considers ways to remove state or local impediments to deployment, it should encourage states to pursue a policy framework for access, timeliness, and fees that protects local interests while also facilitating the network deployment that will bring their citizens the economic and social benefits of 5G,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-79. The Verizon representatives said they also discussed how the FCC can “speed wireless broadband deployment and pave the way for enhanced 4G and 5G networks by removing impediments to wireless facility siting, particularly small cells.”
Microsoft representatives met with Nick Degani and Alison Nemeth, aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, urging further action on the company’s 2016 petition seeking changes to the rules for white spaces devices in the 600 MHz band. Microsoft said then the rules were “overly cautious in a number of respects that will significantly hamper consumer services.” In the latest filing, in docket 14-165, Microsoft said the FCC should “adopt policies that efficiently use spectrum resources throughout the 600 MHz band, permitting White Spaces technologies to improve broadband access in rural communities.” Former Commissioner Robert McDowell, now at Cooley, also represented Microsoft at the meeting.