Howard Buskirk

During recent calls with financial analysts, executives at major tower companies acknowledged some slowness in the push to build 5G across the U.S. That’s in keeping with a trend seen last year (see 2308010069). The calls included those from SBA Communications and American Tower this week.

The Enterprise Wireless Alliance, Anterix and electric utilities are urging the FCC to take the next step in the 900 MHz band and launch a rulemaking on authorizing 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the band. Utilities are the primary users of the spectrum.

The National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF) stressed the importance of protection for passive scientific use of the 24 GHz band, in comments responding to an NPRM commissioners approved 3-2 in December, over dissents by Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington (see 2312260043). The NPRM seeks to align rules for the band with decisions made at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2019. Comments were filed this week in docket 21-186. “Observations made by Earth Exploration Satellite Service sensors provide unique data regarding the state of the Earth System, and especially its atmosphere at a given moment in time, which, by their very nature, cannot be reproduced or replicated,” CORF said: “The observation frequencies cannot be modified, because they are largely determined by the physical characteristics of what needs to be observed, for example, specific water vapor lines are the result of the molecular properties of water.” The IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society also stressed the importance of controlling potential levels of contamination from out-of-band-emissions to passive operations in the band. AT&T said the FCC should implement Resolution 750, which the WRC adopted. “The leadership of the United States at WRC-19 resulted in limits that will fully protect passive operations in the 23.6-24.0 GHz band from unwanted emissions from [upper microwave flexible use service] networks in the 24.25-27.5 GHz bands, without unnecessary measures that would impact the roll-out of 5G mobile services,” AT&T said. GuRu Wireless, which is developing a system for wireless power transfer at a distance in the band, counseled caution. “While ostensibly limited in scope to the adoption of the WRC-19 decision, the NPRM here seeks comment on additional issues, such as the adoption of emission limits that are more stringent than the Resolution 750 limits,” GuRu said: “The Commission should avoid regulatory overreach and not expand its initial proposal by making any modifications to emission limits unrelated to UMFUS operations.”

AI could contribute more than $15 trillion to the global economy by 2030, according to estimates, but that success depends on agreements that “harness” it, John Giusti, GSMA chief regulatory officer, said Wednesday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. AI is just one of several technologies that will transform telecom, other speakers said.

While the wireless industry largely supported recommendations in an FCC NPRM on implementing a 100% hearing-aid compatibility (HAC) requirement for wireless handset models, groups representing the deaf and hard of hearing urged tweaks. Commissioners approved the NPRM in December (see 2312130019) and comments were posted this week in docket 23-388. The Hearing Loss Association of America led other groups in urging that the FCC adopt “a forward-looking, flexible definition of hearing aid compatibility that reflects changing technologies.” The FCC should adopt a definition of Bluetooth connectivity “that rests on a set of functional requirements” ensuring HAC compatibility “via Bluetooth … designed to achieve effective HAC use in the widest number of scenarios possible,” the groups said. They called for “an expanded definition of hearing aid compatibility to include Bluetooth connectivity along with telecoil connectivity,” which “does not rely solely on market conditions to ensure that telecoil coupling will continue to be included in handsets.” The FCC should take “a hybrid approach to grandfathering in handsets as outlined by the Commission, with the ultimate goal of 100% of handset models meeting the ANSI C63.19-2019 standard and newer ANSI standards as they are developed,” they said. Signing the filing were the National Association of the Deaf, TDIforAccess, Communication Service for the Deaf and the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Gallaudet University. The HAC Task Force urged the FCC to align rules with its December 2022 recommendations (see 2212160063). The task force included both consumer and industry groups, and it adopted a unanimous report based on work that started in 2020. “The HAC Task Force recommendations embrace innovation and future trends while ensuring no consumer will be ‘left behind,’” the task force said: “All … participants support the goal of 100% HAC deployment, and they were proud to present the Commission with a concrete, achievable, consensus path to 100% HAC.” CTIA endorsed the 2022 report. “The recommendations are the fruits of a years-long, consensus-based process designed to answer the very question of whether and how 100% HAC can be achieved to benefit consumers with hearing loss,” CTIA said. Samsung Electronics America also endorsed the task force report. “Samsung’s own experience with Bluetooth demonstrates its importance as a hearing technology that is easily accessible to consumers throughout the United States,” the company said: “As a mainstream and growing technology, Bluetooth holds significant promise for consumers with hearing loss.” CTA said recent research supports the task force’s approach to HAC. “The interlocking recommendations in the Report encourage innovation by setting forth a flexible definition for HAC while ensuring testing to objective standards for compliance with deployment benchmarks,” CTA said. For the first time, the rules “incorporate Bluetooth into deployment benchmarks,” CTA said.

Driven by 5G, technology is changing how all industries conduct business and companies must adjust, speakers said during a keynote panel Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. “Technology is driving massive changes across multiple industries,” said Mohamed Kande, vice chair PwC US and the firm's global chairman-elect. How, when and where companies operate, what their biggest products are and how they serve customers are all changing, he said. “No one is spared,” he said. Kande noted that 65% of the companies on the Fortune Global 500 list in 1995 no longer exist -- they either got acquired or went bankrupt. PwC recently surveyed global CEOs, 45% of whom said their businesses won’t be viable in 10 years, Kande added. Companies have to “reinvent” their business models, he said. “It is not about doing the same thing” or “about becoming more efficient,” he said: Change is about “how companies make money differently, how they serve their customers in new ways, get into new products and services and even new industries.” A big force for change is 5G, which will make the IoT “a reality,” Kande said. “Think about all the data and insights that come out of 5G for companies to run their businesses better,” he said. We will see “an explosion of the cloud” because of how 5G is being deployed, and that will mean more reliance on AI, he predicted. Step one is being connected, said Antonio Neri, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “Without connectivity, you can’t digitize, you can’t automate … and you can’t deliver these new experiences” for customers, he said. Neri said Hewlett Packard made a “big bet” on investing on the network edge. Companies can’t put all their data in the same location, whether on premises or in the cloud, he said. “We decided to build a hybrid cloud experience with the cloud principles in mind,” he said. For most companies, data is “the most valuable asset” they have, and at some point companies will have to report their owned data in financial balance sheets, he said. AI is “the next big inflection point” for the internet, predicted Rami Rahim, CEO of Juniper Networks. Companies need “bold thinking” to capture all the potential AI offers, he said.

The wireless industry disputed the need for additional requirements to block texts, including extending requirements to originating providers and requiring use of “reasonable analytics” to block texts likely to be illegal, in response to a December Further NPRM (see 2312130019). But other groups said the FCC should consider additional rules and can’t rely on the wireless industry's voluntary efforts. Comments were posted this week in docket 21-402.

CTIA told the FCC “the record strongly supports” its request for a 12-month extension (see 2401090026) of the FCC's six-month deadline for carriers to implement rules protecting consumers from SIM swapping and port-out fraud. “The record also makes clear that a workable compliance deadline serves the public interest,” CTIA said, in a filing posted Monday in docket 21-341: “CTIA shares the Commission’s goals of fraud prevention and security for consumers and business customers.” The FCC “significantly underestimated the time needed for industry compliance with the new SIM swap and port-out fraud rules,” the Competitive Carriers Association said. Meeting a six-month deadline “would be a significant challenge to even the largest nationwide carriers” and most CCA members are “smaller carriers with extremely limited resources and often over-extended staff multitasking on multiple projects,” CCA said. NCTA also supported CTIA’s petition, saying the new rules “will require the development of new authentication procedures, new customer notifications, and new recordkeeping, among other things.” Covered companies “will have to undertake significant employee training efforts,” NCTA said. Replies to oppositions were due Friday at the FCC.

A top priority of GSMA this year is helping industry move to open networks and allowing application programmable interface (API) roaming, Mats Granryd, GSMA director general, said Monday at the start of the group’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. CEOs of major European providers, meanwhile, called for major changes in how they are regulated.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Friday approved the applications of seven 6 GHz automated frequency coordination (AFC) providers to launch operations by standard-powered unlicensed devices, closing out a multi-year process. The development is one of the most significant for 6 GHz since the 2020 FCC order opening the spectrum for unlicensed use, industry officials said.