By Claus Hetting, WiFi NOW CEO & Chairman
With tremendous fanfare the FCC today announced that it will be voting this month on introducing a new set of ‘GVP’ rules for outdoor 6 GHz Wi-Fi. The purported new rules are outlined as an expansion of 6 GHz rules for outdoor Very Low Power operation with hiked power levels while introducing geofencing to guard against interference. The FCC’s statement can be found here. See more details in the presentation linked below.
Blink and you missed it: On the backdrop of the deafening media noise from CES Las Vegas, the FCC today released the statement that they intend to vote this month on creating a new class of ‘Geofenced Variable Power’ aka ‘GVP’ Wi-Fi devices. Mary Brown, Consultant at Salt Point Strategies (closely associated to Washington, D.C.-based special interest group WiFiForward) says that some large vendors are concerned that current VLP powers are too low to be of any use.
“The new scheme would allow the FCC to authorise higher power ‘VLP’ devices if they are geofenced to prevent interference,” she says to WiFi NOW. A draft of the new proposed regulation should be out soon, Mary Brown says.
The GVP initiative was initiated by Apple and Meta but is also backed by Broadcom. The presentation below – filed by Apple – is public information submitted to the FCC and outlines the details of the GVP concept for those technically inclined. According to Apple and Meta, GVP is ‘a necessary addition to AFC’ intended to facilitate mobility, energy efficiency, consumer privacy, and flexibility.
/Claus.
