The Broadband Access Coalition told the FCC that as a first step on mid-band spectrum, it should approve high-throughput, licensed, point-to-multipoint (P2MP) fixed wireless broadband in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band. “These P2MP links can facilitate the rapid deployment of much-needed gigabit and near-gigabit fixed broadband service to rural and other underserved areas,” the group said in docket 17-183. The newly formed coalition made that proposal in a June filing at the FCC (see 1706210044). “Implementing P2MP services can be done rapidly and simply, using existing Part 101 frequency coordination procedures,” the coalition said now. “The Commission can implement rules now for the immediate deployment of P2MP broadband that will not preclude later entry into the band by mobile services.” The coalition said it has nearly 30 members led by Mimosa Networks, the Wireless ISP Association and New America’s Open Technology Institute. Electric utilities opposed opening the 6 GHz band for broadband. It's “heavily used by utilities for mission critical operations,” said the Edison Electric Institute and Utilities Technology Council jointly. The interference mitigation approaches the FCC is considering “would not be effective as a practical matter, particularly in the long term due to increases in the noise floor that would cause interference from the proliferation of unlicensed devices operating in the bands.” CBS, Disney, Scripps Networks Interactive, Time Warner, 21st Century Fox and Viacom said the FCC needs to protect the 6 GHz band. “The Content Companies rely on fixed satellite service transmissions in the C-band to ensure the reliable distribution of compelling programming to more than 100 million American television households,” they said.
IEEE’s Technology Roadmap Working Group released a “5G" looks at challenges and opportunities. IEEE also issued a call to action in a news release, for "the entire 5G and beyond ecosystem to come together, to collaborate and reach consensus,” said Timothy Lee, co-chair of the IEEE 5G Initiative. “Not just for the purposes of advancing technology or furthering economic pursuits but to anticipate and plan for sustainability and the social implications to those currently connected and those to be connected.”
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology gave Charter Communications special temporary authority for 5G testing in the 28 GHz band. The approval Wednesday was for several test stations in Clarksville, Tennessee, with the testing to start next week and run through April, according to Charter's application.
The FCC mid-band spectrum inquiry, asking for advice on bands from 3.7 GHz to 24 GHz that might be suitable for 5G, has run into concerns from public safety groups worried about the 6 GHz band, one of the bands targeted. Commissioners approved 3-0 a mid-band spectrum notice of inquiry Aug. 3 (see 1708030052). The NOI asked about 3.7-4.2, 5.925-6.425 and 6.425-7.125 GHz, but also for suggestions on other suitable spectrum. APCO asked the FCC to move with care, saying the 5.925-6.425 GHz and 6.425-7.125 GHz bands, used for fixed point-to-point microwave links, are essential to public safety agencies. “To avoid negatively impacting public safety communications, APCO urges the Commission to consider bands other than 6 GHz to achieve its flexible spectrum use goals,” the group commented in docket 17-183. “The 6 GHz bands are the most ideal for long haul microwave transmissions for public safety, in some cases throughout entire states. By comparison, higher frequency bands available for public safety use, such as 11 GHz are not as useful given the shorter path lengths and susceptibility to signal attenuation from environmental factors like rain.” The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council said public safety had to move some critical functions to the 6 GHz band now in the agency’s sights. In the early 1990s, the FCC reallocated another critical microwave band, 1.8-2 GHz range “for emerging technology services and required public safety and other critical users to relocate from that band,” NPSTC said. “The 5.925-6.425 GHz band now under consideration for ‘additional flexible use’ is the home to which many of the microwave links were relocated, albeit at increased costs.” The National Academy of Sciences, through its Committee on Radio Frequencies, noted that radio astronomy researchers and others do research on many of the bands being studied for 5G. "As the Commission has long recognized, radio astronomy is a vitally important tool used by scientists to study the universe,” the filing said. “It was through the use of radio astronomy that scientists discovered the first planets outside the solar system, circling a distant pulsar. … Radio astronomy has also enabled the discovery of organic matter and prebiotic molecules outside our solar system, leading to new insights into the potential existence of life elsewhere in our galaxy, the Milky Way.”
The wireless industry welcomed Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo's (D) signing of the 13th state small-cells law pre-empting local authority for 5G infrastructure siting in the right of way (ROW). H-5224, signed into law last week, requires local authorities to charge a cost-based fee for processing small-cells applications and no more than $150 yearly for collocating small cells on poles in the public ROW. A small-cells application is deemed granted if the local government doesn’t act within 60 days of submission. It will help spur investment to bring 5G networks to Rhode Island, CTIA Senior Vice President-State Affairs Jamie Hastings said Friday. The Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns earlier raised concerns about the bill’s caps on annual pole attachment fees (see 1706210058). Friday, it declined comment. A similar bill in California awaits the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown (D). Mayors of five major California cities asked Brown to veto SB-649; the governor has until Oct. 15 to decide (see 1709220029).
The FCC shouldn’t limit its initial allocation of the $1.75 billion repacking reimbursement fund to $1 billion, NAB said in a meeting with Incentive Auction Task Force Chair Jean Kiddoo and IATF staff Tuesday, recounted a filing posted Thursday in docket 16-306. “Failing to do so unnecessarily creates the potential for delay for stations that cannot afford to order equipment and services until they are reimbursed.” The FCC has the full reimbursement fund available, NAB said, and stations have delayed placing orders for repack equipment because of uncertainty they’ll receive enough funds upfront. The agency already knows the cost of the repacking exceeds the reimbursement fund, and capping the upfront allocation at $1 billion would be a departure from original plans, NAB said. "Withholding $175 million, 10 percent of the available funding, is adequate to guard against the possibility of over-allocation while also reducing the possibility that a lack of funding becomes a source of otherwise avoidable delays.”
NTCA signed on to the Broadband Access Coalition, which is asking the FCC to authorize a licensed, point-to-multipoint fixed wireless service in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band (see 1708100037). BAC's supporters have faced an uphill climb, squaring off against a rival proposal led by Intel (see 1708100037). “Introduction of the BAC and its petition to the FCC will provide another important ‘tool in the toolkit’ in our shared national mission to accelerate the deployment of robust and affordable broadband in rural areas that are the most challenging to serve,” NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said in a news release. Mimosa Networks, the Wireless ISP Association and New America’s Open Technology Institute are original BAC co-founders.
Garmin and Iridium brought concerns about Ligado's broadband terrestrial low-power service plans to meetings with Wireless Bureau and eighth-floor staff, said FCC docket 11-109 filings posted Tuesday. Recapping a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, Garmin said it discussed its worries about Ligado interference with Garmin's certified aviation devices. It repeated its oft-made argument in favor of the 1 dB standard for determining harmful interference to GPS receivers. Iridium -- recapping meetings with the Office of Engineering and Technology, the Wireless and International bureaus and the offices of Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel (see here, here, here, here, here and here) -- said it repeated its technical analysis findings (see 1609020029 and 1612140061) that Ligado's L-band operations would cause significant harmful out-of-band emission interference to Iridium's mobile terminals. It said Ligado's proposed OOBE limit at 1626.5 MHz doesn't provide enough interference protection. It said the FCC shouldn't grant Ligado's application on its 1627.5-1637.5 MHz plans but that if it does, it must impose conditions to ensure enough interference protection for Iridium services. Ligado didn't comment.
The FCC granted Motorola Solutions' application for special temporary authority to demonstrate prototype equipment at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Philadelphia. The Office of Engineering and Technology Monday granted the application covering Oct. 20-25.
AT&T is “quietly” deploying a 10 MHz block of 700 MHz spectrum in New York and other markets to add capacity and increase download speeds, and that could be good for Dish Network, BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk wrote Friday. AT&T owns the D- and E-blocks in markets including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, but in other markets only controls one of the blocks, he said. “Interestingly, Dish owns the adjacent block” in most other markets “which positions them well for a spectrum swap that would generate tangible value for AT&T,” Piecyk wrote. The band represents 4 percent of Dish’s considerable spectrum holdings and BTIG sets its value at $969 million, after tax.