Howard Buskirk

The Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC), the longest-standing federal telecom advisory committee, predating the FCC, is expected to continue to play an important role in developing spectrum policy, though now it will work with the new Interagency Spectrum Advisory Council (ISAC), industry experts said. Some details about how IRAC and ISAC will collaborate remain to be determined, they added. The administration released its long-awaited national spectrum strategy, and a presidential memorandum on modernizing U.S. spectrum policy, two weeks ago (see 2311130048).

The World Radiocommunication Conference this year is a “critical event” for the GSMA, Director-General Mats Granryd said during an ITU podcast. “It’s where we agree [on] the future spectrum, we harmonize spectrum, and spectrum is our lifeline,” he said. “It’s really an event that affects billions of people.” GSMA’s focus this year starts with low-band, 400-600 MHz, he said. Low band builds capacity and makes sure everyone around the world “can actually get online through a mobile device,” Granryd said. The next focus is mid-band, 4-6 GHz, which is equally important for building capacity, he said. Through spectrum harmonization, carriers can grow and have the same application programming interfaces (APIs) globally, he said. “With 5G now really kicking in properly, and we see more business-to-business applications ... we must have more spectrum,” he said. Granryd said the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona early in 2024 is nearly sold out. Businesses are trying to figure out how they can use 5G connectivity to their advantage, “how can I prosper from that,” he said. Hot topics will include 5G applications, open gateway, “which is basically API roaming," and AI and the use of AI, he said: “I think you will see a lot of use cases.”

Smith Bagley Inc. (SBi), which serves tribal lands in the Four Corners region of the U.S., called for a tribal 5G Fund of at least $2.5 billion. Reply comments as the FCC considers a proposed 5G Fund (see 2310240046) were due Tuesday in docket 20-32. Other comments urged the FCC to move forward on a fund.

Concerns about a “doom” scenario from AI and risks from generative AI are overstated, Adam Thierer, senior fellow-technology and innovation team at the R Street Institute, said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. “Things have gotten really out of control, and we’re being led around by a lot of people who have Terminatoresque fantasies floating through their heads,” Thierer said. Other speakers said AI poses potential risks but could have widespread benefits. The discussion comes as policymakers explore controls (see 2311150054), with the FCC looking at the technology's benefits and threats (see 2311150042).

The World Radiocommunication Conference opened in Dubai Monday, with remarks by ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, who insisted global cooperation will benefit the many unserved and make the most of increasingly congested spectrum. The ITU said about 4,000 delegates and others are expected to attend the WRC, which runs through Dec. 15. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Anna Gomez are among those attending the start of the conference this week.

Amateur radio operators have filed hundreds of short comments urging the FCC to retain the 60-meter band for amateur use. The band was the focus of a question teed up in an April order and NPRM on implementing decisions by the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2015 and 2019. Replies are due Nov. 28 in docket 23-120. “We propose to allocate the 5351.5-5366.5 kHz band to the Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis and seek comment on whether the amateur service should keep the existing channels they use in the 60-meter band,” the NPRM said. Federal agencies use the larger 5275-5450 kHz band “for services that include military, law enforcement, disaster relief, emergency, and contingency operations” and there are also non-federal operations, the FCC said at the time. The NPRM notes that amateurs often refer to frequency bands by the wavelength of the signal rather than by the spectrum range. “Commenters that support expanded access to the 60 meter band should provide information regarding how heavily the five amateur frequencies in the 5275-5450 kHz band are used and why additional amateur spectrum in this frequency range is needed if we adopt the proposed allocation,” the notice said. The FCC also asked about the power levels that should be allowed. Most comments run only a sentence or two. “The 60 meter band is ideally located between the amateur 80- and 40-meter bands, which is critical to ensuring signal propagation to certain geographic areas during variations in time and the solar cycle while providing communications for disaster relief,” said a filing by amateur operator Douglas Wilkerson, posted Monday. “I have used the 60 meter band to establish communications when propagation on other amateur bands was not optimal,” said operator Deane Charlson: “The 60 meter band is a nice option to have during emergency communications.”

With the World Radiocommunication Conference starting Monday in Dubai, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and former Chairman Ajit Pai questioned how well the U.S. is positioned to score wins. They spoke during an American Enterprise Institute webinar Friday. Pai was chairman during the previous WRC four years ago.

The FCC’s draft order and Further NPRM protecting consumers from SIM swapping and port-out fraud saw several changes on its way to approval by commissioners last week (see 2311150042), according to our side-by-side analysis. The item was posted in Friday’s Daily Digest. Changes mostly rejected wireless groups' requests for adjustments. FCC officials clarified after the meeting the adopted item had the same implementation dates as proposed in the draft, despite concerns raised by the Competitive Carriers Association and those of CTIA that it will be difficult to meet a six-month implementation time frame (see 2311130040). “We conclude that providing six months after the effective date of the Report and Order to implement these revisions to our [customer proprietary network information] and number porting rules strikes the right balance between time for wireless providers to implement these changes and accounting for the urgency of safeguarding customers from these fraudulent schemes” and that the time frame is “consistent with other proceedings and regulatory frameworks adopted by the Commission where consumer protection and numbering requirements were at issue,” the order said. “We decline, at this time, to adopt a requirement that wireless providers immediately notify customers in the event of multiple failed authentication attempts in connection with SIM change requests,” the final item said, in added language: The final order also rejects a CTIA request that providers can use other data for verification “when customers are traveling and may not have access to or remember a PIN.” Commissioners found “such an exception would establish a significant loophole for fraudulent activity and note that in these circumstances, customers can use alternative methods of authentication, such as email.” Comment deadlines on the FNPRM will come in a Federal Register notice.

The FCC’s notice of inquiry asking how AI can fight robocalls, as well as potential risks from the technology, saw a few changes over the draft (see 2311150042). The FCC approved the NOI 5-0 Wednesday and released the final version Thursday. Comments are due Dec. 18, replies Jan. 16. Among the changes, the NOI now mentions the administration’s AI executive order (see 2310300056), released after the draft circulated. The FCC added a series of questions in a new paragraph. “What other steps can we take to identify the root causes of AI-driven robocall or robotext scams?” the NOI now asks: “Should we solicit information from industry regarding the type of AI technologies used in particular scams, either on a regular basis or in connection with investigations? Should we inquire as to whether the AI technology used was developed for general legal uses, and misused, or whether it was purpose-built for unlawful applications? If the AI technology was developed for general use, were there safeguards in place to ensure it was not misused? If so, how were they disabled?” The NOI also now asks, “How best can we share the information that we gather about fraudulent uses of AI within our purview with our sister agencies, who are charged with addressing malicious uses of AI in other contexts?” Commissioner Geoffrey Starks indicated Wednesday he asked for those changes. The NOI includes statements from Starks and Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

The FCC’s August public notice on spectrum access in tribal and native Hawaiian areas is part of the agency’s broader focus on closing the digital divide, Wireless Bureau Deputy Chief Susan Mort said during an FCC webinar Thursday. Mort said she realized timing was tight on responding to the notice, with comments due Nov. 30 (see 2308040039). “To assess current and future policy efforts in furtherance of this goal, we kind of need to know what the current lay of the land is,” she said. The FCC collects some information through its licensing forms but wants to improve its understanding of how tribes may be accessing spectrum, including through leasing or by using unlicensed or lightly licensed bands, she said. “We do not currently have specific, granular answers that help us … to better identify and/or track tribal or native applications,” she said. Once the FCC decides what categories it might be able to add to licensing forms, “then there are both legal and technical steps that we must undertake,” Mort said. Clearance is faster if the FCC adds to existing questions rather than posing completely new questions, she said. “We do have to run those traps,” she said: “We’d like to move … forward as quickly as we can." No comments were filed so far in the docket on the inquiry, 23-265. “We want to be as comprehensive as we can be without being confusing,” Mort said.