6 GHz Changes, WEA Rules Proposed as Part of Packed October Meeting Agenda

The FCC’s Oct. 19 meeting is packed, with items on 6 GHz rules, Wi-Fi on school buses, wireless emergency alerts, video programming for the blind and visually impaired, maternal healthcare and other items. That's aside from the NPRM on net neutrality, which is expected to grab most of the attention (see 2309270056). The meeting will be the first with new Commissioner Anna Gomez and the first with a 3-2 Democratic majority during the Biden administration.

The 6 GHz item was expected (see 2309180050) and lays down a marker from the U.S. before the World Radiocommunication Conference in Dubai, where future use of the band is expected to be a major focus. “Wi-Fi connectivity over unlicensed spectrum is the oxygen that sustains much of our everyday lives,” Rosenworcel said in a note Wednesday: Providing “added flexibility in the 6 GHz band could empower enhanced learning opportunities, advance healthcare opportunities, and bring new entertainment experiences.”

The FCC provided additional details in a news release. The proposal “includes new rules, would take further comment, and issues a clarifying order,” the commission said. An order would allow VLP operations in the U-NII-5 and U-NII-7 portions of the 6 GHz band, totaling 850 MHz of spectrum, the agency said: “Operations at power levels up to -5 dBm/MHz could occur anywhere, indoors or outdoors, without any need for a frequency coordination system.” The FCC will also take further on operations in the rest of band. “In addition, the Commission will … propose to permit very low power devices to use higher power levels while employing a geofencing system to protect licensed incumbent operations in the band.”

Rosenworcel in June initially called for changes to the E-rate program that would allow support for Wi-Fi on school buses (see 2306260029). Companies have been at the FCC in recent weeks supporting the plan. The proposal faces opposition from Republicans, including House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas (see 2307310063).

“The historic Emergency Connectivity Fund provided unprecedented resources to help students get and stay connected for online learning,” Rosenworcel said: “Dozens of school districts used this support to equip school buses with Wi-Fi connections. To sustain this proven policy after ECF funds expire, the Commission will consider a Declaratory Ruling to allow E-Rate funding to be used for Wi-Fi on school buses.” The FCC allowed E-Rate to support wireless phone services on buses in the past and has "sure footing to take this next step,” she said.

The WEA item follows a Further NPRM, approved by commissioners 4-0 in April, which proposes to require participating providers to ensure mobile devices can translate alerts into the 13 most commonly spoken languages in the U.S. aside from English, to send thumbnail-sized images in WEA messages, and other changes (see 2304200040). Some of the proposals caused wireless industry concerns (see 2308220071).

WEAs have been used “more than 70,000 times to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, or other critical situations” since they became operation in 2012, Rosenworcel said. “Unfortunately, these alerts have only been available in English and Spanish,” she said: “The Commission will vote on rules to improve Wireless Emergency Alerts, including enhanced support for multilingual alerting and other changes to provide alerting authorities with a better understanding of where and how these alerts will be delivered in their communities.”

Also on the agenda is a proposal aimed at improving broadband mapping to better understand maternal health, Rosenworcel said. "The United States is the only developed country with increasing maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity rates," she said, noting research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "suggests that many of these deaths and complications are preventable with access to broadband and the connection to healthcare that internet service enables." The proposal will seek comment on ways the commission's mapping platform "might be enhanced to help us better leverage digital health tools to improve maternal care."

The FCC will also vote on an order to expand audio description requirements to cover all U.S. TV markets, Rosenworcel said. Current FCC rules require top-four affiliated stations and some MVPDs in the top 100 of the 210 designated market areas (DMAs) in the U.S. to offer the feature by the end of 2023, but October’s draft order would “phase in audio description requirements for an additional 10 markets each year until all markets are covered,” Rosenworcel said. The order appears to stem from a March unanimously approved NPRM (see 2305010060, which proposed phasing in an additional 10 DMAs every year starting in 2025, covering all markets by 2035. That phase-in pace is what’s allowed under the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. NAB asked for concessions in past audio description expansions but didn’t file comments on the NPRM. Consumer groups praised the FCC for increasing the scope of the rules but said broadcasters should volunteer to adopt audio description and speed up the phase-in process.