The Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) seeks additional information on whether the FCC should permit direct communications between client devices in the 6 GHz Band. In the FCC’s 6 GHz order adopted in April 2020, the FCC authorized two types of Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) devices in the 6 GHz band: standard-power and low-power indoor device operations. For indoor devices, the FCC required that the devices operate under the control of an indoor access point and prohibited 6 GHz U-NII client devices from directly communicating with one another. In response to the 6 GHz Further Notice portion of the order, commenters requested that the FCC modify its low-power indoor device rules to permit client-to-client device communications, which they assert would enable additional innovative unlicensed operations. As the FCC received both support and opposition to the proposal, OET seeks additional information on whether and under what circumstances client devices could be permitted to directly communicate with each other while protecting incumbent licensed services. Comments are due 30 days, and reply comments are due 60 days, after publication of the Public Notice in the Federal Register.
