The FCC’s 3.45 GHz auction hit $21.4 billion Monday, as the FCC moved to five daily bidding rounds. The auction is now the third-highest in FCC history, behind only the C-band and AWS-3 auctions. On Tuesday, the auction moves to seven rounds.

FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington and telecom-focused lawmakers hailed Senate passage of the Secure Equipment Act (HR-3919). The Senate approved the legislation by unanimous consent Thursday, sending it to President Joe Biden. The House passed it earlier in October (see 2110200066). HR-3919 and Senate companion S-1790 would ban the FCC from issuing new equipment licenses to companies the commission decides are a national security risk. Commissioners approved an NPRM 4-0 in June proposing a similar ban (see 2106090063). The bill “will help to ensure that insecure gear from companies like Huawei and ZTE can no longer be inserted into America’s communications networks,” Carr said. “We have already determined that this gear poses an unacceptable risk to our national security, so closing what I have called the ‘Huawei loophole’ is an appropriate action for us to take.” HR-3919 “does not complete the work of protecting our digital sovereignty,” Simington said. “Inadvertent flaws in wireless edge devices are as much a threat as intentionally created backdoors. The FCC must continue to engage with industry and other parts of government to identify and eliminate weaknesses that can be exploited by our adversaries.” Equipment made by “Huawei and ZTE, companies linked to the Chinese government, increases the vulnerabilities of our telecommunication systems,” said lead sponsor Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. The measure “forcefully signals to the Chinese Communist Party that America is committed to protecting the privacy and security of our citizens,” said lead GOP co-sponsor House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, La. S-1790 lead sponsors Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also praised passage.

The FAA is preparing warnings to pilots and airlines about potential interference to aircraft safety systems from 5G in the C band, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Experts say the FAA is concerned about protecting radio altimeters, but C-band deployments are expected to start this year, as planned (see 2109200041). Verizon and AT&T executives confirmed that deployments are imminent, in recent calls with analysts. An FAA spokesperson said the agency is working with other agencies to ensure air safety. The FCC’s record-setting C-band auction offered licenses at 3.7-3.98 GHz; altimeters are at 4.2-4.4 GHz. “Upholding public safety is a top priority for the FCC under the law,” a spokesperson emailed: “We remain committed to ensuring air safety as the agency’s successful track record demonstrates, while moving forward with the deployment of new technologies.” 5G "networks using C-band spectrum operate safely and without causing harmful interference to aviation equipment,” emailed CTIA President Meredith Baker. “The evidence includes numerous active 5G networks using this spectrum band in 40 countries all over the world, as well as years of study and technical analysis by the FCC and international agencies, including material submitted by the aviation industry.” The C band is “critical to delivering 5G service,” Baker said.

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington warned of a spectrum crisis looming, in some of his most complete remarks yet on wireless, in a speech at the Mobile World Congress in Los Angeles. The 5G revolution “risks being stillborn,” he said, per written remarks posted Thursday: The crunch “is not, as some would have it, merely an inconvenience to certain narrow business interests. … It would be a tragedy if we were to squander this historic opportunity over lack of vision regarding mid-band spectrum.” Simington wants better federal coordination, echoing a theme of now-Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Better coordination, and stronger relationships among federal agencies, will ensure that agency efforts to identify mid-band spectrum for commercial use are harmoniously aligned and urgently pursued -- not conflicted and half-hearted,” he said. The success of the C-band auction shows the appetite for exclusive-use spectrum, Simington said. “Operators want to engineer at high power and for exclusive use, and manufacturers want to build equipment to operate likewise.” He said the U.S. should take the lead on spectrum harmonization at ITU. “We can't win 5G on our own; we need to win it together with our friends and allies by creating the best technology for the world market,” he said: “The time has passed in which America could look inward.”

The National Spectrum Consortium (NSC) said Wednesday it’s launching the Partnering to Advance Trusted and Holistic Spectrum Solutions (PATHSS) Task Group, to collaborate with DOD “to explore sharing solutions to make more mid-band spectrum available for commercial 5G, specifically in 3.1-3.45 GHz.” The band is considered one of the next FCC targets for 5G. PATHSS “will provide a forum for industry and the Defense Department to exchange sensitive and classified information on current and projected military and commercial requirements in these bands,” NSC said. “The group will identify and develop use cases based on a shared understanding of federal and commercial needs.” It's a “first-of-its-kind industry and government collaboration” that will “create a new model to drive spectrum sharing outcomes,” said NSC Chair Lizy Paul.

The Copyright Office readopted “existing exemptions” under Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 1201, the agency announced Wednesday with a final rule in its triennial review (see 2010150030). That included a right-to-repair exemption for smartphones and other digital devices. NTIA, in an Oct. 1 letter, recommended expanding right-to-repair exemptions for diagnosis, maintenance and repair of all software-enabled devices.

Last year's White House cybersecurity space policy directive (see 2009040042) helped raise awareness of the issue, but public sector and government implementation has been lagging, said George Washington University Space Policy Institute Director Scott Pace on a CompTIA panel Tuesday. CompTIA Senior Director-Public Sector David Logsdon said the National Cybersecurity Center's Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center plans to report in November on perceived gaps in the space policy directive. Pace said he had hoped space agencies would have started talking more explicitly in acquisitions and requests for proposals about cybersecurity expectations. Until such principles start being part of competitive considerations in acquisitions, "it's hard to get companies to start taking that seriously," he said, noting interagency discussions are needed. He said government should be more aggressive in industry outreach with Department of Homeland Security threat briefings, and more active in international engagement via standards bodies. Added Logsdon, “If we don't do it, the Chinese will." The space policy directive deliberately took "a soft approach" instead of a prescriptive one, to get grassroots buy-in, said Lockheed Martin Vice President-Technology Policy and Regulation Jennifer Warren. She said there's more to be done in adoption and implementation, but the directive had some success in raising awareness about the need to think of cybersecurity beyond just satellites to the broader ecosystem including earth stations and supply chains. Timelines for implementation should be aspirational, with voluntary steps companies could take "to get that gold star." A lot of focus has been on technical issues like standards and nomenclature, but more thought should go to nontechnical issues of personnel security and insider threats, Pace said. "Every traitor in prison had a security clearance." Viasat Government Systems Chief Technology Officer Phil Mar urged paying more attention to smaller, emerging space companies, where cybersecurity often is a last-minute concern.

It was July 2020 when the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California OK'd a June 2019 motion for receivership for radio stations owned by Edward Stolz (see 2110130057).

Commissioners voted 4-0 Thursday to revoke China Telecom Americas’ domestic and international authorities under Communications Act Section 214. The FCC launched an investigation in December (see 2012100054). The new order directs the company “to discontinue any domestic or international services that it provides pursuant to its section 214 authority within sixty days following the release of the order,” the FCC said, citing the agency's responsibility for national security. The vote “is an important step forward, but the FCC must remain vigilant to the threats posed by the Communist Party of China,” said Commissioner Brendan Carr, who urged that China Telecom be added to the agency’s “covered list” for gear suppliers. The company didn’t comment.

The next World Radiocommunication Conference is still on for Nov. 20-Dec. 15, 2023, the ITU confirmed Monday “following a consultation with the ITU Member States around the world.” The location will be either Abu Dhabi or Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. “The COVID-19 pandemic has proven the essential nature of digital technologies and services," said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao: “Yet challenges persist in efforts to connect the other half of the world's population by 2030. ITU Member States will use WRC-23 to pave the way for new, more innovative ways to connect the world using both terrestrial and space-based communication technologies."