Howard Buskirk

The approach to spectrum allocation on the Hill and in industry is maturing, which may explain in part the problems Congress is having as it considers renewing the FCC’s auction authority, experts said during a Technology Policy Institute webinar Wednesday. That authority largely lapsed in March (see 2312200061),

The New Hampshire House Science, Technology and Energy Committee unanimously rejected an RF safety bill, which would have required warnings on 5G towers. In addition, the lawmakers approved a measure 20-0 that addresses public safety agencies’ access to cell towers, dropping a requirement that would give agencies access to towers in favor of more study.

In-person meetings at the FCC are increasing, but the majority are virtual, as they have been since the COVID-19 pandemic began nearly four years ago. The number of in-person ex parte meetings appear roughly the same as a year ago, based on a review of filings and industry interviews. Beginning last March, more staff began working in the office on more days of the week (see 2303030047). One tendency, industry officials say, is that more meetings with commissioner advisers are now at FCC headquarters. But meetings with the offices and bureaus are mostly virtual because staffers have differing in-office schedules. Virtual meetings seem the best way of ensuring everyone who needs to attend a meeting can.

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington thinks the agency should provide consumers with more of an explanation about why they should buy secure smartphones and other devices, he said during a Silicon Flatirons’ conference on global fractures in tech policy. The two-day conference ended Monday.

President Joe Biden understands the importance of a “coordinated policy” that maximizes "the benefits the American people get from spectrum,” Austin Bonner, deputy U.S. chief technology officer-policy, said Thursday during the NTIA spectrum policy symposium's final panel. The White House's spectrum strategy reaffirms the FCC's and NTIA's roles, establishes the Interagency Spectrum Advisory Council (ISAC) and creates a White House-led mechanism for dispute resolution, providing “a consistent and clear place to bring challenges,” she said. During the many meetings the administration held before releasing the strategy, a consistent theme was “the need for senior level buy-in,” which led to ISAC's creation, she said. Bonner said the council is planning on meeting regularly. From the beginning of the administration, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where she works, the National Economic Council and the National Security Council “strongly agreed that spectrum policy needed to change” and “needed presidential-level direction,” Bonner said. The strategy ensures that, before spectrum studies are conducted, they’re coordinated between NTIA and the agencies. “That’s really critical,” said Matthew Pearl, NSC director and special adviser-emerging technologies. Something that emerged during recent spectrum fights was the importance of assumptions and methodology when bands are studied, Pearl said. The president wants a “science-based, data-based approach” on spectrum issues, he said. NTIA and ISAC will be unable to resolve some issues and that’s when the White House will step in and convene the agencies prior to a decision, he said. Pearl noted that he was previously at the FCC and worked on spectrum issues, including the C-band. The FCC and NTIA “have made significant progress” in working together, adopting and operationalizing a memorandum of understanding on proposed spectrum decisions, he said (see 2208020076). The White House is committed to resolving disputes “as early in the process as we can,” he said, acknowledging difficult spectrum issues will result in disputes. “We’ve turned a corner, but we also have set ourselves a challenging road,” Bonner said.

David Zumwalt, who became president of the Wireless ISP Association in June 2022, told us during an exclusive Communications Daily Q&A that the NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment program shouldn’t be used to inject artificial competition into markets that WISPA members already serve. WISPA has fought to have BEAD fund projects that rely partly on using unlicensed spectrum (see 2302090063).

The lower 3 GHz band, a top target for wireless carriers for reallocation for full-power licensed use, remains critical to DOD as well, DOD Chief Information Officer John Sherman said Thursday at NTIA's spectrum policy symposium. The band is one of five targeted for study in the national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048).

The FCC is quickly following up on a November AI notice of inquiry (see 2311160028), with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposing a ruling Wednesday that would make voice-cloning technology in robocall scams illegal. The draft proposes a declaratory ruling that voice-cloned calls violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The FCC recently finished a comment cycle on the NOI. Among the comments, attorneys general from 25 states and the District of Columbia asked the agency to use the proceeding to clarify that calls mimicking human voices are considered “an artificial voice” under the TCPA (see 2401170023). An FCC news release cites that filing. “AI-generated voice cloning and images are already sowing confusion by tricking consumers into thinking scams and frauds are legitimate,” Rosenworcel said: “No matter what celebrity or politician you favor, or what your relationship is with your kin when they call for help, it is possible we could all be a target of these faked calls.” If approved, the rules would give the AGs “new tools” to battle the “bad actors behind these nefarious robocalls and hold them accountable under the law,” the FCC said. Pennsylvania AG Michelle Henry said her office supports the ruling “to protect consumers from intentionally deceptive and manipulative marketing tactics.” The proposed ruling would “put the calling industry and provider community on notice that they need consent to make calls with AI,” a USTelecom spokesperson said in an email: “This important action will thwart prolific robocallers that want to use AI to deliver to consumers calls they never asked for and do not want. We encourage the Commission to quickly adopt the Chair’s proposal.”

Several lessons are emerging from the move to open and virtual radio access networks that can help providers that are getting started, Matt Conrod, Intel director-VRAN business development, said Wednesday during a TelecomTV webinar. One lesson is the importance of beginning early with field trials and pilot projects to gain exposure to the technology, Conrod said. “You won’t be able to wake up in 2026 and introduce VRAN like you would a traditional RAN feature -- this is network transformation,” he said. Providers should also use “proven” ORAN components, he said, noting that integration takes time. “Reuse proven components and partners who have gone through deployment at scale already,” he advised. Carriers can change their approach after the RAN is established, he said. In addition, providers should “critically assess” their capabilities for system integration and tool development, he said. “Some things, as we have found out, can only be learned at scale,” Conrod said. A recent survey by his company and Analysis Mason found that the greatest obstacles to deployments are integration costs and complexity, said Paul Miller, chief technology officer at ORAN company Wind River. Its work with Dell is helping companies reduce those costs, which are “key obstacles" to adoption of these technologies, Miller said. One key is working with experienced partners on a deployment. Such partners have launched other open networks, said Manish Singh, CTO of Dell Technologies’ Telecom Systems Business. “You want to bring in the set of partners who are actually committed to making this happen,” he added. Providers also should clearly state what they expect from their partners, he said. “Start early and get it to work,” advised Cristina Rodriguez, vice president of Intel’s Network and Edge Group. “The technology is ready today,” she said. While technology will improve, companies should recognize “we have today what we need to start,” she added. Rodriguez agreed there are things providers can learn only when they launch at scale.

CTIA sent a follow-up letter to NTIA Tuesday on implementing the national spectrum strategy, urging the agency to correct "mistakes made in earlier studies of the lower 3 GHz band and, consistent with Congressional intent, engage in a comprehensive review that includes licensed, full-power opportunities.” Umair Javed, CTIA senior vice president-spectrum, was among those raising questions about DOD’s study of the band at a recent American Enterprise Institute event (see 2401220066). “Licensed spectrum provides the only viable path for the wide-area coverage necessary to connect Americans with wireless service across the country,” the letter said: “The record supports evaluating all options for the lower 3 GHz band.” CTIA encouraged the administration to “restore NTIA leadership of spectrum studies and transparent, data-driven processes.” The administration should also take “a holistic look” at the entire 1,275 MHz of spectrum in the 7/8 GHz band “to identify the most promising opportunities, including making some or all of the band available,” CTIA said. That band, with the lower 3 GHz, has been a top wireless industry candidate for full-power licensed use. The 7/8 GHz band “is now a global ... target for expanding capacity for 5G and beyond” with the World Radiocommunication Conference deciding last year to include it in “a future agenda item for harmonization,” the letter said.