NCTA and its members urged the FCC to make more spectrum, including 7/8 GHz, available for unlicensed use and discussed the importance of sharing in the citizens broadband radio service band during a meeting with Office of Economics and Analytics staff. NCTA warned against an overreliance on high-power, exclusive use licenses covering large geographic areas. “NCTA highlighted the need for additional unlicensed spectrum to keep pace with burgeoning demand for Wi-Fi,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 18-295 said: “By the end of 2024, there will be 21.1 billion Wi-Fi devices in use globally, ranging from smart locks and thermostats in homes to devices enabling cloud computing and rich telepresence in enterprise settings, to factory monitoring devices in industrial settings.” Among those represented at the meeting were Comcast, Cox Enterprises, Charter Communications and CableLabs.

Railroads face a growing need for spectrum in light of requests from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Administration but have had difficulty identifying additional spectrum to use, the Association of American Railroads said in a meeting with FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Joel Taubenblatt and staff. AAR explained “the railroads’ current use of spectrum in the 160-161 MHz, 219.5-222 MHz, 450 MHz, 900 MHz, and 6 GHz bands,” a filing posted Thursday in docket 24-99 said. The group discussed “how the railroads continue to improve their technology and use their existing spectrum more efficiently.”

Shure executives briefed aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Brendan Carr about spectrum needs of wireless mic users. The executives recently provided the same update for staff from the Office of Engineering and Technology and Wireless Bureau and the other three commissioners (see 2406050011). “We discussed the increasing demand for wireless microphone audio technologies … for professional users in the American music, theater, sports, broadcasting and film industries, among other sectors that rely on high-quality professional wireless microphone operations,” a filing posted Wednesday in docket 14-166 said: “It is more and more difficult to meet the wireless audio needs of professional productions and events in those industries.”

The FCC Wednesday notified certified spectrum access system administrators in the citizens broadband service band that they are now permitted to implement changes to the existing aggregate interference model used to protect federal operations in the band. Among the changes, SAS administrators may now assume an 80% time division duplex activity factor and 20% network loading factor for each CBRS device in the aggregate interference calculation, said a notice from the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology. Administrators may use median irregular terrain model terrain dependent propagation loss “using reliability and confidence factors of 0.5 -- to calculate the aggregate received power levels” within a protection area. The FCC urged administrators to submit a demonstration of their ability to implement the new testing parameters in docket 15-319. NTIA approved the changes in a letter to the FCC posted Wednesday. “The changes outlined … will expand Internet access to more people across the country,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson: “They could not have been implemented without the collaboration of the Navy and our ongoing coordination with the FCC.” The change will expand use of the band to tens of millions of Americans, said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “The CBRS dynamic spectrum sharing framework is already fertile ground for wireless innovation, and through collaboration with [DOD], NTIA, and stakeholders, we are expanding opportunities for reliable spectrum access while also ensuring that federal incumbents remain protected,” she said. The changes authorize service to approximately 72 million more POPs and expand the total unencumbered CBRS area to roughly 240 million POPs nationwide, the agencies said. CBRS is a prime example of how industry and government can coordinate on spectrum, Ira Keltz, deputy chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology said Wednesday at the International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technologies (ISART) conference in Denver. When CBRS started, the initial exclusion zones were “huge” and would have excluded 75% of POPs, he said. NTIA, working with engineers, was able to reduce the size of the zones so that CBRS made more sense, industry was willing to invest, and the Navy felt comfortable that its radars would be protected, Keltz said. “It just really comes down to people being open-minded,” he said. Derek Khlopin, NTIA deputy associate administrator, noted the work to make CBRS work better. “These improvements we’ve made have been phenomenal,” he said, also at the ISART conference. He credited the Navy for its willingness to work with the NTIA and the FCC. “With little ‘greenfield’ spectrum available yet ever-increasing demand for spectrum-driven utilizations, sharing allows more efficient use of limited spectrum resources,” emailed Richard Bernhardt, vice president-spectrum and industry at the Wireless ISP Association: The development “will provide more predictability and allow for approximately 72 million additional people to be covered by CBRS without having to move or change power due to Federal operations.”

Verizon representatives spoke with FCC staff and commissioner aides about the carrier’s opposition to the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance’s proposal that effectively gives the FirstNet Authority control of the 4.9 GHz band (see [Ref:2405240048). PSSA proposes that FirstNet use the band “in the same manner as Band 14 is today, which means it would be fully available to AT&T to serve its commercial customers, subject to priority and preemption for its public safety customers,” a filing posted Wednesday in docket 07-100 said: “PSSA would take the 4.9 GHz band out of the hands of local public safety entities and give it to FirstNet, and in turn AT&T.” The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) also opposed giving FirstNet control of the spectrum. In meetings at the FCC, the MTA discussed how it uses the 4.9 GHz band for its Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) modernization project: “MTA described its significant investments in the 4.9 GHz band for the New York City subway system and how its CBTC project will promote intensive use of the band using next-generation 5G technology.”

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Tuesday sought comment on using geofencing in the 5.9 GHz band, which would allow higher power limits while protecting federal radiolocation service sites. Comments are due July 5 in docket 19-138. NTIA recently suggested that geofencing could allow higher equivalent isotropically radiated power limits for cellular vehicle-to-everything on-board units (see 2406100032). OET noted that filing and asked for comments on NTIA's proposal.

The FCC Wireless Bureau on Tuesday approved revised performance plans by Bristol Bay Cellular Partnership (BBCP), TelAlaska Cellular and Windy City Cellular under the Alaska Plan. BBCP’s revised plan commits to providing a minimum of 10/2 Mbps service to 5,454 Alaskans and offering 1,277 customers with 25/15 Mbps 4G LTE, said a bureau public notice. TelAlaska committed to upgrade many of its 2G and 3G areas to 4G, the order added. In Nome, “it commits to upgrade to 4G LTE at a minimum of 10/1 Mbps.” Windy City’s revised plan upgrades customers on Adak Island from 2G to 4G, the bureau said.

Boston became the latest opponent of the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance’s (PSSA) proposal that effectively gives the FirstNet Authority control of the 4.9 GHz band (see [Ref:2405240048). Local control of the band “is crucial for future preparedness and providing network resiliency to first responders,” said a filing at the FCC posted Tuesday in docket 07-100: “One of the most valuable aspects of the 4.9 GHz band is the flexibility it affords public-safety communications at the local level. Many local and regional authorities, including those in the Greater Boston area, currently operate point-to-point communications on the 4.9 GHz band during natural disasters, recovery efforts, and other emergencies.”

EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen and other officials from the company reported on a series of meetings with FCC Wireless Bureau Chief Joel Taubenblatt and staff about 5G and spectrum items. “EchoStar reiterated its support for modernizing and improving the Commission’s spectrum aggregation policies,” a filing posted Monday in docket 23-319 said. The company urged that the FCC address proposed rule changes for the citizens broadband radio service band “including increasing authorized power levels and synchronizing downlink and uplink operations.”

CTIA asked the FCC to address an issue it raised on pole attachments in 2019, providing clarity that wireless providers have access to utility light poles (see 1911200033). “Given the remarkable and growing consumer demand for wireless services and 5G home broadband -- the fastest growing segment of the home broadband marketplace -- the Commission should act on this pending request,” a filing posted Monday in docket 17-84 said. These poles “are well-suited for small cell facilities, which comprise the largest number of deployments: industry analysts report upwards of 80 percent of future deployments will be small cells, which are ideally suited to leverage street furniture such as light poles in the rights-of-way,” CTIA said.