The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association has termed “an excellent starting point” steps proposed recently by 10 tech companies that they said would ensure that unlicensed devices in the 6 gigahertz band don’t cause harmful interference to incumbents (TR Daily, June 12).

The firms and 6 GHz band incumbents have been bickering for months about an analysis the tech firms submitted in January that concluded that unlicensed devices could share the 6 GHz band without causing harmful interference to primary incumbent operations (TR Daily, Jan. 26).

The analysis submitted in January was done by RKF Engineering Services LLC and submitted to the Commission by Apple, Inc., Broadcom Corp., Cisco Systems, Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Facebook, Inc., Google LLC, Intel Corp., MediaTek, Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Qualcomm, Inc. The recent proposal, as with other recent filings, was submitted by those companies, with the addition of Ruckus Networks and the omission of MediaTek.

In its ex parte filing in GN docket 17-183, WISPA said that it “appreciates the level of engagement and concern for the rights of incumbent 6 GHz licensees. Overall, WISPA agrees that the framework proposed in the June 12, 2018 ex parte letter filed by technology companies is reasonable and represents an excellent starting point for a notice of proposed rulemaking. In particular, the framework recognizes that indoor devices and outdoor devices should be treated differently given their potential impact on existing operations. WISPA also agrees that both ex ante interference protection measures and a periodic database check are essential parts of a comprehensive regulatory framework. Applying these functional requirements will pave the way for shared use of a new unlicensed band that could bring significant benefits to consumers. WISPA looks forward to participating further in this proceeding and, in particular, in evaluating more detailed technical information.”- Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily