NAB
is cautioning the FCC about the agency’s draft proposal to reallocate
spectrum in the 6 GHz band for WiFi. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has said the
move would increase network capacity and “help advance even further our
leadership in next generation wireless technologies, including 5G.” He
intends to have the item ready for a vote April 23. However the
broadcast trade lobby is concerned that unlicensed operations in the
band (5.925-7.125 GHz) could interfere with stations’ 6 GHz use for
electronic news gathering.
WiFi operations on the same channel as mobile news gathering operations
can easily cause interference if the WiFi device is near a window or
outdoors, notes NAB in a filing Monday describing separate calls with
Commission staffers. The draft order concludes, however, that “we find
the risk of harmful interference to incumbent operations to be
insignificant.”
But as NAB observes, the draft order doesn’t say the agency conducted
its own analysis to reach that conclusion. The FCC took issue with some
of the data presented by broadcasters and states that in the
Commission’s “experience,” and “engineering judgment,” it believes any
harm is minimal. That leaves broadcasters with no way to evaluate the
accuracy of the draft order’s conclusion, according to NAB. Continue Reading
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