Edison Electric Institute will scrutinize FCC’s expansion of Wi-Fi into 6 GHz band
The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies, on Thursday said it plans to closely monitor the implementation of new rules unanimously adopted on Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) making the entire 1,200 megahertz of spectrum in the 6 gigahertz (GHz) band available for unlicensed use.
The 6 GHz band is currently populated by microwave services that are used to support utilities, public safety and wireless backhaul, among others, according to the FCC, which said that unlicensed devices will share this spectrum with incumbent licensed services under its new rules designed to protect both unlicensed and licensed operations.
However, EEI has some concerns, according to Phil Moeller, executive vice president of EEI’s Business Operations Group and Regulatory Affairs.
“Numerous critical infrastructure industries and public safety providers that operate in the 6 GHz band have raised significant concerns with the FCC’s plan to open up the band without automated frequency control (AFC) requirements for all unlicensed devices,” Moeller said in an April 23 statement. “While we support the goal of using spectrum more efficiently, today’s decision by the FCC means there will be no field testing or AFC mechanism in place to protect incumbent users from interference by indoor low-power devices.”
For instance, EEI earlier this month joined numerous organizations representing public safety and critical infrastructure industries in noting that without an AFC system, the FCC would lack a mechanism to direct unlicensed devices to non-interfering channels and would have no way to shut down the devices that interfere with incumbent operations.
“Without this backstop, the commission would make critical, and often life-saving, services vulnerable to harmful interference,” wrote EEI and 13 other organizations in an April 15 letter sent to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “That fact remains true, regardless of whether the probability of such interference is low.”
During its April 23 public meeting by teleconference, the commission voted to allow standard power unlicensed use under an AFC system to protect incumbent users in a portion of the band. The entire 6 GHz band may be used for indoor unlicensed use at very low power without AFC, according to the commission, which is proposing a new class of devices that can operate indoors and outdoors across the entire band.
An AFC system will prevent standard power access points from operating where they could cause interference to incumbent services, the FCC said.
In a statement, Pai called the FCC’s vote a bold step to increase the supply of Wi-Fi spectrum and said the item would help promote the Internet of Things (IoT) and ensure incumbents are protected from harmful interference.
At the same time, the FCC heard the concerns expressed by organizations and in a related Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on a proposal to permit very low-power devices to operate across the 6 GHz band to support high data-rate applications, including high-performance, wearable, augmented-reality and virtual-reality devices. The notice also seeks comment on increasing the power at which low-power indoor access points may operate.
Nevertheless, Moeller said that EEI’s member companies “will carefully monitor the band for interference to prevent any significant impacts to mission-critical communications systems.”
“We also will continue to work with policymakers and other stakeholders to identify ways to mitigate the risk introduced by these unlicensed devices,” he said.
