The FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force will meet virtually July 8 at 10 a.m. EDT, says Wednesday's Federal Register. The task force will hear updates from its working group leadership.
Microsoft President Brad Smith spoke with FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on 5G, broadband, open radio access networks, the 12 GHz proceeding and a draft order on importation and marketing of devices, said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-443. “Smith expressed support for the Commission’s adoption of its draft order allowing greater flexibility in the importation and marketing of radio frequency devices,” the filing said. In 12 GHz, Microsoft supports “ensuring that satellite operations in the … band are not undermined,” the filing said.
Emergency broadband benefit program providers have an additional month, until July 15, to submit reimbursement claims for services provided in May, said an FCC Wireline Bureau order Tuesday in docket 20-445. Several providers sought waivers (see 2105280037).
The FCC EDOCS electronic document management system suffered a system outage Monday that has been resolved, an agency spokesperson emailed Monday. The outage resulted in no generation of a Daily Digest Monday, nor were there any postings in EDOCS.
Tech and telco groups disagreed about USTelecom's petition for reconsideration of calling party notification and blocked call list requirements, in comments posted Monday in docket 17-59 (see 2105200074). Lumen said requirements should exclude legacy networks because it's "unclear whether those systems are technically capable of accommodating such a notification." The Voice on the Net Coalition agreed and said the FCC should confirm that calls blocked by a subscriber through anonymous call rejection or Do Not Disturb don't fall under the session initiation protocol (SIP) response code requirements. The Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee disagreed: "Introducing carrier discretion as to the type of notification will only increase confusion for legitimate callers." Incompas and the Cloud Communications Alliance said such flexibility "is exactly what the commission sought to avoid by prescribing standardized uniform notifications." The groups opposed extending January's deadline for notification implementation. USTelecom's petition "does not explain how a different form of notification would be superior to use of the SIP codes," said the American Bankers Association, National Retail Federation and others.
Boeing representatives urged the FCC to move forward with an NPRM on service rules enabling use of the 5030-5091 MHz band for unmanned aircraft systems, in a call with acting Chief Ron Repasi and others from the Office of Engineering and Technology. The FCC sought comment in 2019 (see 1912270039). “Boeing described the existing, ongoing challenges of developing and testing new technologies in the UAS sector without dedicated licensed spectrum, including coordination issues with the Federal Aviation Administration, among other challenges,” said a filing posted Friday in RM-11798.
Auto industry groups and Wi-Fi advocates clashed in comments on an FCC Further NPRM on sharing 5.9 GHz. Wednesday, ITS America and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn last year’s 5-0 FCC order dividing the band between Wi-Fi and auto safety (see 2106020076). Comments were due Wednesday in FCC docket 19-138. Proposed power limits on unlicensed devices “will fail to protect the 5.895-5.925 GHz band for intelligent transportation system (ITS) operations,” ITS America said. Work with the Department of Transportation “to ensure that the 30 MHz reserved for ITS … is free of harmful interference and usable for [vehicle to everything] technologies,” the group said. The order was “wrong and misguided,” AASHTO said. Protect ITS “from harmful interference” and let DOT and industry “best determine the technology to be used for the next generation of V2X,” Toyota said. The band is critical to the future of Wi-Fi, countered NCTA: “The newly available spectrum will improve the Wi-Fi experience.” Broadcom and Facebook urged taking “the next step by allowing portable devices” at power levels of 23 decibel-milliwatts of equivalent isotropically radiated power. Portable devices “have tremendous potential to bring to the consumer market new and innovative use cases,” they said. Drop plans for exclusion zones protecting federal radars “within which point-to-point and point-to-multipoint devices would be prohibited,” the Wi-Fi Alliance urged. Proposed power limits are adequate to protect V2X based on years of similar operations in the U-NII-3 band, the alliance said. The Wireless ISP Association said unlicensed use is safe for V2X, but the FCC should consider higher power limits for some uses outside of exclusion zones with protections like professional installation. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation petitioned for reconsideration. “Promote the smooth and rapid deployment of cellular [V2X] technology in the upper segment of the 5.9 GHz band by expeditiously issuing licenses to qualified users and requiring unlicensed entrants in the lower 45 megahertz segment … to pay for transitioned licensees’ relocation costs,” the alliance commented: “Implement safeguards to ensure that V2X can operate free from harmful interference.” The 5G Automotive Association asked the FCC to reconsider the order and stay provisions “that would permit unlicensed indoor access points, subordinate devices, and client devices to operate across the entire 5.850-5.895 GHz portion of the 5.9 GHz band beginning on July 2.”
The FCC Wireline Bureau seeks to refresh the record on the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocate's petition for reconsideration of the 2016 Lifeline order on the phasedown of voice-only support (see 1606240077), said Wednesday's Daily Digest. Comments are due by July 1, replies July 16 in docket 11-42.
Verizon defended its emergency broadband benefit program offerings in a letter posted Monday in docket 20-445 to the FCC. Claims that Verizon was selling higher-priced plans to subscribers were "unfounded," the company said (see 2105200058). Verizon said it "significantly expanded" its EBB offerings and customers can switch back to their existing plan if they contact Verizon "within 14 days of moving to a Mix & Match plan."