FCC to Consider Revising Rules on Over-the-Air Devices

The FCC will consider revised rules for "over-the-air reception devices" (OTARD) at the commissioners' April 12 meeting, Chairman Ajit Pai blogged. Current rules “were developed a long time ago,” Pai said Thursday. “They had in mind the delivery of video services, not broadband. So they don't apply to antennas operating as hub or relay antennas used to transmit signals to or receive signals from multiple customer locations -- in short, the kind of equipment that could be used for innovative new wireless services.” The changes will clear the way for “next-generation networking technologies that operate over millimeter waves, specifically, things like the base stations and hubs that make up mesh networks,” he said. Friday, the agency released the OTARD draft NPRM, noting the Wireless ISP Association requested the rulemaking. “We propose to eliminate the restriction that currently excludes hub and relay antennas from the scope of the OTARD provisions,” the FCC explained. “The Commission’s decision in the 2000 Competitive Networks Order to limit the applicability of the OTARD rule reflected the infrastructure needs of a previous generation of wireless technologies that relied on larger antennas spread over greater distances to provide service to consumers.”