FCC on 6Ghz, Verizon, Lifeline

All three FCC commissioners voted Thursday to expand unlicensed operations in the 6 GHz band, creating a new category of unlicensed devices—geofenced variable power (GVP) devices. GVPs can operate both indoors and outdoors at higher power than previously authorized devices, driving innovation for AR/VR, IoT and other smart devices. NCTA hopes this is just the beginning of boosting unlicensed spectrum. “With 90% of mobile traffic carried over WiFi, it is essential that spectrum policy keep pace with how consumers use these networks,” the cable group said. The FCC is seeking comment on proposals that could provide more utility for unlicensed devices in the 6 GHz band, including allowing composite standard-power and low-power indoor (LPI) access points to operate with additional power under certain circumstances and permitting LPI access points to operate on cruise ships. – The FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau is seeking info from the public on Verizon’s Jan. 14 outage that lasted about 10 hours. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said the agency has had discussions with the wireless carrier and is currently in the fact-gathering stage. “We’ll have more to say,” he said. — Carr and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) have squared off over an Office of Inspector General report that found lifeline providers in California, Texas and Oregon had received nearly $5 million in reimbursements for 116,808 deceased individuals between 2020 and 2025. In November, the FCC revoked California’s opt-out status that allowed it to use its own verification system for the program. “To receive federal benefits—you should be both living and a lawful beneficiary. Some people say we’re setting the bar too high— I don’t think so. I think that’s basically common sense,” Carr told reporters Thursday. Newsom defended his state on X this week, sharing a California PUC statement that said people die while enrolled in Lifeline, including in red states like Texas. On Thursday, Carr pushed back against the idea there’s a natural lag in the program. “That’s not what the Inspector General report found at all. There are tens of thousands of people that were already dead by the time they were first signed up for that program,” he claimed. “In terms of natural lag, the lag was in cases in excess of 50 months.” Democrat Commissioner Anna Gomez said she supports targeted reform to Lifeline, but an FCC Lifeline reform proposal to be voted on next month goes too far and risks turning connectivity into “a political tool” given a “minuscule number of actual unqualified subscribers.”

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