Howard Buskirk

The 5G Fund order that FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated last week (see 2403200071) is expected to have several gaps that will need addressing with a Further NPRM on a tribal reserve but also through auction public notices, industry officials said. One question that needs answering is how to define open radio access networks, slated to get up to 10% of the $9 billion to be awarded.

Carriers are pushing automation in their radio access networks but “need to be smart” about how they deploy it, Adam Loddeke, AT&T assistant vice president-RAN technology, said Monday during an all-day IEEE virtual workshop. Speakers also discussed how AI can supercharge automation.

Policymakers shouldn’t forget the potential of very high frequency spectrum, the mmWave Coalition said last week in response to the National Science Foundation’s request for information (RFI) on the national spectrum research and development plan, which is part of the national spectrum strategy. The comments have yet to be posted by NSF. Most 5G and 6G discussions so far are focused on lower frequencies, the coalition said. “A key reason for this is that it is hard to justify a business case for sub-THZ mobile spectrum use at present as there are now basic technical questions, technological hurdles, and cost issues, yet these are fertile and active areas of research which may eventually lead to compelling opportunities for mobile use in this spectrum,” the group said. The coalition cited a growing need for wireless backhaul, “especially in rural, underserved areas often where fixed wireless access is vital for rural households, and often backhaul requirements cannot always be implemented in fiber technology, due to installation urgency requirements, local terrain features that delay or block installation, cost, or short term requirements that make fiber optic installation uneconomical.” The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance said the RFI is on target in the areas it suggests for research. “Efficiency, dynamic spectrum access and management, automated interference mitigation, and coexistence modeling are all areas in which the DSA and our members have keen interest and extensive experience,” the alliance said: “We also fully support efforts to study the economic-, market-, social-, and human-centric aspects of increasing spectrum access.” DSA called on the NSF to take into account innovative licensing frameworks that are already working, including the citizens broadband radio service band and 6 GHz. “Given the historical success of the variety of spectrum sharing techniques in different bands designed to protect different incumbents … there is no one size fits all solution to spectrum sharing,” DSA said. AT&T urged the administration to more clearly define the term dynamic spectrum sharing. The definition should include an “examination of full-power licensed use” and “development of a basis for predictable times and/or geographies in which dynamically shared spectrum can be used,” AT&T said. The carrier urged more work on interference mitigation techniques and not restricting research to “mere ‘on/off’ spectrum access controls.” The definition should seek “to define co-channel and adjacent channel interference environments to incorporate into network design and operation.”

Dish Wireless wanted to do something unprecedented: design, build and deploy the world’s “first of its kind 5G network” in only three years using the public cloud, Eben Albertyn, Dish Wireless executive vice president-chief technology officer, said during an RCR virtual conference Thursday. Several experts mentioned the growing security and other challenges facing carriers in a virtualized-network world.

Generative and predictive AI have experienced a “huge surge” in interest and discussion, but telecom carriers are mostly taking a cautious approach, recognizing the need for “guardrails” and a phased transition, Ruth Brown, Heavy Reading principal analyst-mobile networks and 5G, said during an Informa Tech webinar Thursday. For example, some carrier executives question whether machines can replace humans in making key decisions, she said. AI-assisted analytics will help providers “pinpoint and rectify faults and security” and assist in “scaling resources” to meet demand, she said. “Understanding this transition is going to be really important … along with ethics around using AI,” she said. For Terje Jensen, senior vice president-network and cloud technology strategy at Norway-based provider Telenor, whether providers will use AI is no longer a debate. Instead, the question is how they will “master” it in a way that’s responsible. Carriers offer “critical infrastructure” and must protect the data and privacy of their customers, he said: “We have to take care on that part.” Providers need to “address the competency and understanding” of staff responsible for AI, he said. For years, Telenor automated many of its operations and is "gradually introducing more AI,” bringing operations “to the next level,” he said. This is a “rather fundamental shift” in how carriers operate, he said. Jensen also said Telenor recognizes the importance of industry standards and collaboration with customers and suppliers. As networks become increasingly complex, operators must manage them with the same staff size, which is “becoming more and more difficult,” said David Allabaugh, Fujitsu software solutions architect. “Full autonomy is a fairly aggressive goal -- we see this as a journey and not a near-term destination,” he said.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Wednesday circulated for a commissioner vote an order that would launch a 5G Fund Phase I multi-round reverse auction, making $9 billion available to target 14 million homes and businesses lacking mobile 5G coverage. The fund includes up to $900 million in “incentives” for incorporating open radio access network technologies in fund-supported networks, said a news release. The fund will rely on the FCC’s updated broadband coverage map. The order “would take a number of steps to improve the program, including: modifying the definition of areas eligible for the auction and ensuring that areas in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that meet the criteria would be included in the 5G Fund auction; increasing the budget for Phase I of the 5G Fund auction and the Tribal reserve budget -- a set-aside portion of the fund to support connecting Tribal communities; and requiring 5G Fund support recipients to implement cybersecurity and supply chain risk management plans as a condition of receiving support,” the FCC said. Commissioners unanimously approved a Further NPRM in November (see 2309210035). Commissioners initially approved a proposed $9 billion fund in 2020, over partial dissents by Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks (see 2010230056). “For the first time in our history … this agency has comprehensive data about where service is and is not all across the country,” Rosenworcel said: “This will be the foundation of our plan to expand the 5G service in rural America to where it is needed most -- where people live, work and travel.” CTIA raised concerns in a filing posted Wednesday, before the order was announced. The FCC should schedule a 5G Fund auction only after final funding decisions are made in the broadband access, equity and deployment program, CTIA said in a meeting with staff from the FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics. “While BEAD will not directly fund mobile broadband deployment, it is likely to result in the deployment of fiber broadband backhaul facilities and fixed wireless services that will facilitate the expansion of unsubsidized 5G coverage in rural areas,” said a filing in docket 20-32. Even if the FCC adopts rules in the near term on issues raised in an FNPRM, “the Commission should wait to schedule the ... auction until the impact of BEAD deployments on 5G availability becomes clearer,” CTIA said.

A CTIA executive on Wednesday criticized DOD’s work so far on the potential clearing of parts of the lower 3 GHz band. “We need more spectrum to meet commercial demand” and the federal government holds the most spectrum, said CTIA Senior Vice President-Spectrum Umair Javed during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar on Wednesday. Other panelists praised the Biden administration for releasing a national spectrum strategy (see 2403120006). The strategy includes a co-led NTIA and DOD study of the lower 3 GHz band.

The FCC’s Technological Advisory Council held its first meeting under its new charter, with a focus on wireless technology. As such, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told TAC members they should help change Washington's negative tone when it discusses AI. The new TAC's efforts are just starting under three working groups: advanced spectrum sharing, AI/machine learning (ML) and 6G.

The FCC released the Further NPRM added to an order on a voluntary cyber trust mark program that commissioners approved 5-0 last week (see 2403140034). The final order includes numerous other tweaks to the draft, addressing security and excluding motor vehicles and related equipment. The order and FNPRM were posted in Monday’s “Daily Digest.”

FCC commissioners appeared to make limited changes to the supplemental coverage from space (SCS) framework, approved 5-0 Thursday (see 2403140050). Officials said there were “changes to the margins” but no major revisions. The FCC posted the final order and Further NPRM Friday. The order addresses concerns raised in recent ex parte filings. For example, an added paragraph dismisses concerns of T-Mobile and SpaceX that an aggregate out-of-band power flux density limit of -120 dBW/m²/MHz is too strict (see 2403060055). The companies asked the FCC to instead take additional comment. The proposed limit “strikes the appropriate balance and will provide clarity for stakeholders interested in enabling SCS while protecting adjacent terrestrial operations,” the order says. AT&T suggests that “[r]ather than drawing a bright line at this stage, the Commission should not prohibit SCS service from satisfying wireless buildout requirements, so long as the Commission evaluates SCS service performance on a case-by-case basis,” the order says, addressing another recent filing: “We reiterate that we do not believe that it is appropriate to allow a terrestrial licensee to rely on SCS provided by its satellite operator partners/lessees to satisfy the terrestrial licensee’s buildout or performance requirements at this time.” Among other tweaks, the final order says the FCC declines to add the 1.4 GHz band to the SCS bands “at this time,” leaving open the possibility for change. The further notice was largely the same as that proposed by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. She and Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez attached written statements.