Cable operators said complaints from broadcasters about opening up the 6-GHz spectrum band for WiFi are “unfounded … untimely, unsubstantiated and irrelevant.”
NCTA – The Internet & Television Association made that argument in comments to the Federal Communications Commission on June 10 regarding unlicensed use of that band, comments prompted by a court remand of one part of the FCC’s unanimous April 2020 decision to allow the entire 1,200 Megahertz of the 6-GHz band to be shared with unlicensed WiFi. The decision was at that time the FCC‘s latest move in freeing up more spectrum for connecting 5G in-home devices — video streaming, video calls — and connecting internet of things (IoT) devices to the internet. Cable operators and technology companies supported it.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in a decision handed down last December, said the FCC‘s conclusion on the risk of harmful interference was just the sort of technical call to which the court owes “significant deference.” It rejected the broadcasters’ challenge, arguing TV stations had not provided a basis for their claim the band could not be opened up without “a significant risk of harmful interference.”
But while the court denied the petitions to review in most respects, it did say the FCC had not sufficiently responded to a request from broadcasters that it reserve a sliver of the band exclusively for mobile licensees, so that aspect of the decision was remanded to the FCC for “further explanation.”
NCTA said that explanation is easy. In its comments, it said the FCC should tell the court ASAP that broadcasters‘ unsupported assertions “do not alter the Commission’s conclusion that the risk of harmful interference to mobile indoor operations from unlicensed 6 GHz low-power indoor (LPI) devices isinsignificant.”
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