April 30, 2020

Via E-Mail

Ronald Repasi Acting Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington DC, 20554

Re: Emergency Request for Waiver

Dear Mr. Repasi:

Pursuant to Section 1.3 of the Commission’s rules,1/ RADWIN LTD. (“RADWIN”) requests, on behalf of its customers listed in Attachment 1 to this letter, an emergency waiver of Section 15.407 of the rules so that those customers – which employ JET Point-to-Multipoint, beam- forming fixed wireless base station solutions2/ -- can operate at power limits otherwise applicable to point-to-point systems in the U-NII-1 (5.15-5.25 GHz) and U-NII-3 (5.725-5.85 GHz) bands.3/ Grant of the requested waiver would serve the public interest by allowing RADWIN’s customers to add capacity to, and enhance the robustness of, their networks in the areas listed in Attachment 1, to address the increase in traffic they are experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background

RADWIN, established in 1997, is headquartered in , . RADWIN’s U.S. subsidiary, RADWIN Inc., is located in Mahwah, New Jersey.4/ RADWIN is a leading provider of sub-6 GHz solutions, providing point-to-point and point-to-multi-point products to major carriers, large, medium and small wireless internet service providers (“WISPs”) and others in the and worldwide. RADWIN’s products power a variety of access, backhaul and vertical private networks applications, with the vast majority of them deployed by service providers to deliver fixed wireless broadband access services to residential and enterprise subscribers, mostly in rural and suburban areas. RADWIN’s customers listed in

1/ See 47 C.F.R. § 1.3. 2/ The RADWIN devices covered by this waiver operate under FCC ID: Q3K-BFJET5X. 3/ See 47 C.F.R. § 15.407. RADWIN equipment operates in other segments of the 5 GHz band. This waiver request related only to the U-NII-1 and U-NII-3 bands. 4/ RADWIN Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of RADWIN, serves as the distributor of RADWIN broadband wireless systems to independent distributors in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, it provides training and post-sales technical support to customers and partners. RADWIN LTD. develops, manufactures, and markets RADWIN products globally. ______RADWIN Inc., 900 Corporate Drive, Mahwah, NJ 07430, USA; Tel: 1-800-RADWINUS RADWIN Ltd., 27 Habarzel Street, Tel-Aviv 69710, ISRAEL; Tel: +972-3-766-2900 www.radwin.com Attachment 1 provide those broadband access services, often in remote and rural locations, and are currently experiencing higher demand and stress on their networks as the COVID-19 pandemic forces more Americans to work, learn, socialize, and, where available, engage in telemedicine from home.

Grant of the Waiver Request is in the Public Interest

Section 15.407 of the FCC’s rules requires devices using point-to-multipoint technologies in the 5 GHz U-NII bands to operate with power limits lower than fixed point-to-point devices operating in the same band.5/ Waiver of the rule would permit those same devices to operate at higher power, providing RADWIN customers the ability to better serve end users during this critical and unprecedented time.

Section 1.3 of the rules allows the Commission to waive its rules for “good cause” shown.6/ Specifically, a waiver is appropriate where particular facts would make strict compliance with the rules inconsistent with the public interest.7/ To satisfy this public interest requirement, the waiver cannot undermine the purposes of the rule, and there must be a stronger public interest benefit in granting the waiver than in applying the rule.8/

Good cause exists to grant RADWIN’s request for waiver. First, it will allow RADWIN’s customers using JET Point-to-Multipoint fixed wireless access solutions to provide better high speed broadband service to their subscribers so that they can stay connected and access essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using increased power will allow RADWIN customers to provide improved system performance, including capacity and robustness, both of which are key to getting, and keeping more of those customers’ end users on line at the same time. This relief is particularly critical to RADWIN’s customers in remote areas, many of whom have limited access during usual conditions to, among other critical services, health care and will increasingly rely on telehealth during the current pandemic. This video shows the important role that WISPs that use RADWIN products play in their users’ lives and other examples of how RADWIN helps its customers serve rural and remote end users is available on RADWIN’s website.

5/ See 47 C.F.R. § 15.407. 6/ See 47 C.F.R. § 1.3. 7/ See Northeast Cellular Tel. Co., L.P. v. FCC, 897 F.2d 1164, 1166 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (articulating the waiver standard under 47 C.F.R. § 1.3); WAIT Radio v. FCC, 418 F.2d 1153, 1159 (D.C. Cir. 1969); see also ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited v. FCC, 428 F.3d 264 (D.C. Cir. 2005) (quoting Northeast Cellular). 8/ See, e.g., WAIT Radio, 418 F.2d at 1157 (stating that even though the overall objectives of a general rule have been adjudged to be in the public interest, it is possible that application of the rule to a specific case may not serve the public interest if an applicant’s proposal does not undermine the public interest policy served by the rule); Northeast Cellular, 897 F.2d at 1166 (stating that in granting a waiver, an agency must explain why deviation from the general rule better serves the public interest than would strict adherence to the rule).

2 Second, grant of the requested waiver would not undermine the purpose of the rule because it would have minimal impact on the surrounding radiofrequency environment based on the unique beam-forming characteristics of the RADWIN JET base station radios.9/ As indicated above, RADWIN’s request is for a limited duration – i.e., sixty (60) days – to meet the increasing demand on networks created by COVID-19. In addition, as demonstrated by the e-mail that RADWIN sent to its customers, which is included as Attachment 2, and as explained further below, RADWIN’s customers have acknowledged (and will acknowledge again prior to deployment of software that increases the output power of their devices) that the equipment must revert to its original settings when the waiver expires.

Third, grant of the waiver will enable existing RADWIN customers to deploy utilizing existing assets and in already-used frequency bands. Grant of the waiver request represents one of the simplest ways the Commission can provide needed relief during this pandemic.

In contrast, requiring RADWIN’s customers to adhere strictly to the power levels for point-to- multipoint technologies in Section 15.407 during the COVID-19 pandemic may impede their ability to satisfy the increasing subscriber demand on their networks. Unless RADWIN is permitted to increase the capacity of its customers’ networks, the ability of Americans to stay connected and obtain critical services like telemedicine during the pandemic will be more limited – a result clearly contrary to the public interest.

RADWIN Customers Will Be Provided Explicit Direction Regarding the Limited Applicability of the Waiver

The following outlines the steps that RADWIN will take to enable, and then disable operation of the affected base station units with higher power.

Pre-Waiver Mode Activation – The customers on the attached list will receive a special software release -- “COVID-19 Waiver SW Release” that will include a dedicated link to upload the software release and detailed release notes with all related information and guidelines.

a. The software release will be applied by connecting to the base station via the “RADWIN Manager,” which is the technician application used for configuring, monitoring and managing the device. b. Unlike typical RADWIN Manager upgrades, this software release would require an internet connection to enable RADWIN to track the activation of base stations under the waiver. This will permit RADWIN to track Service Providers that elect to temporarily use higher power. c. When clicking on the software release link, the RADWIN Manager will be updated to include a special new tab/button called: “Activate COVID-19 Waiver

9/ See Petition for Rulemaking of RADWIN LTD., RM-11812 at 7 (filed June 18, 2018) (explaining that allowing RADWIN’s beam-forming devices to operate at power levels for point-to-point technologies will not increase the risk of interference or adversely impact others). Nevertheless, if there are particular geographic areas where the FCC or the National Telecommunications and Information Administration believe it inappropriate to grant the request, RADWIN will ensure that Customers in those areas are unable to temporarily modify their operations as described below.

3 Mode.” Once clicked, an online page will pop-up with a message indicating the service provider is about to enter a specific operation mode, provided under a unique FCC COVID-19 Waiver. By proceeding, the user will be required to acknowledge that:  The customer has read and understands the FCC’s waiver.  The FCC has permitted operation with higher power for a limited period of time.  The customer will modify the operation of the base station back to its FCC permitted power level on or before the date the waiver expires.  Operating with the power level permitted under the waiver past the waiver expiration date is a violation of FCC rules and the customer may be subject to FCC enforcement action, including potential monetary forfeitures.

The Service Provider will be required to acknowledge these terms and only then the “COVID-19 Waiver Mode” will be available to the customer. Once the customer agrees to the terms it will be allowed into a “Waiver Mode” screen that allows it to increase the transmission power.

Operation During Waiver Mode – Under the “Waiver Mode” the maximum allowed transmission power value will increase to 28dbm, meaning (considering the integrated beamforming antenna gain is 20dbi) the maximum EIRP level would increase to 48dbm. As long as the base station is operating in “Waiver Mode,” every time the customer accesses the RADWIN Manager relating to the device, the RADWIN Manager will display a “warning” icon on the screen that will state: “PLEASE NOTE: THIS DEVICE IS OPERATING UNDER AN FCC TEMPORARY COVID- 19 WAIVER, PERMITTING HIGHER EIRP THAN REGULAR FCC RULES. PLEASE ENSURE THAT THE TEMPORARY WAIVER HAS NOT EXPIRED.”

Termination of Waiver -- RADWIN will take the following steps to prevent continued operation of base stations at higher power once the waiver expires:

a. A few days prior to waiver expiration, RADWIN will send an email to all customers that received the Waiver software release, making them aware of the upcoming termination of the Waiver and notifying them to apply a new software release (link to be attached to the email) to all devices that were updated with the Waiver software release. b. The customer will upload the software upgrade to its RADWIN Manager. It will then connect the Manager to each device operating at higher power and the following will take place: i. Each device will revert back to the maximum allowed EIRP under the FCC rules. ii. The COVID-19 Waiver Mode will not be available any longer in that RADWIN Manager. And it cannot be applied to any other devices. c. Once the waiver expires, RADWIN will not enable any more devices to operate under the COVID-19 Waiver Mode. Because an Internet connection is mandatory in order to activate the Waiver Mode, no Service Provider will be able to use an older RADWIN Manager version to activate any units into the Waiver Mode. In

4 any case, when a device is connected to the RADWIN cloud, the option to enable the Waiver Mode will not be available. d. If a user continues to operate a device under the Waiver Mode, despite the obligation to apply the software upgrade that reverts to original settings: i. The RADWIN Manager will display the following warning that the device is no longer permitted to operate in a Waiver Mode -- PLEASE NOTE – THIS DEVICE IS OPERATING PURSUANT TO AN FCC WAIVER THAT HAS EXPIRED. YOU MUST APPLY A SOFTWARE RELEASE TO RETURN THE DEVICE TO ITS PRE- WAIVER CONFIGURATION [LINK]. FAILURE TO APPLY THE SOFTWARE RELEASE AND REVERTING REVERT TO OPERATE UNDER PRE-WAIVER CONFIGURATION IS A VIOLATION OF FCC RULES AND YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO FCC ENFORCEMENT ACTION, INCLUDING POTENTIAL MONETARY FORFEITURES. ii. Every time the unit connects to the RADWIN Manager for any reason, RADWIN will receive a notification from the device that it operates under the Waiver Mode and the customer will be instructed to deploy the software that reverts the equipment to non-waiver specifications. iii. Any new RADWIN software uploaded in the future to the device, will automatically eliminate the “Waiver Mode” and reduce the device’s power to that permitted under the rules.

The Commission Has Granted Similar Relief

The Commission recently granted similar requests for relief, including requests that were submitted on behalf of multiple parties. For example, the Commission recently granted emergency Special Temporary Authority to 33 wireless Internet service providers serving 330 counties in 29 states so they can operate in the 5850-5895 MHz portion of the U-NII-4 band to help meet the surge in consumer demand for residential fixed broadband services during the coronavirus pandemic.10/ The Commission likewise granted relief to several wireless service providers to enhance their network capacity during COVID-19 pursuant to the Keep Americans Connected Pledge.11/ As Chairman Pai stated, it is “imperative that Americans stay connected”

10/ See News Release, FCC Grants Wireless ISPs Temporary Access to Spectrum in 5.9 GHz Band to Meet Increase in Rural Broadband Demand During Pandemic, FCC (Mar. 27, 2020), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-363358A1.pdf. 11/ See News Release, Chairman Pai Launches the Keep Americans Connected Pledge, FCC (Mar. 13, 2020) (“Keep Americans Connected Pledge”), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC- 363033A1.pdf; see also, e.g., News Release, FCC Provides T-Mobile Temporary Access to Additional Spectrum to Help Keep Americans Connected During Coronavirus Pandemic, FCC (Mar. 15, 2020), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-363051A1.pdf; News Release, FCC Provides U.S. Cellular Temporary Access to Additional Spectrum to Help Keep Americans Connected During Coronavirus Pandemic, FCC (Mar. 17, 2020), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-363114A1.pdf; News Release, FCC Grants Verizon Temporary Spectrum Access to Keep Americans Connected During COVID-19 Pandemic, FCC (Mar. 18, 2020), https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC- 363145A1.pdf; News Release, FCC Grants AT&T and Verizon Further Temporary Spectrum Access to 5 as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread and cause disruptions to the economic, educational, medical, and civic life of our country.12/

The Commission has also granted requests for waiver for equipment that was not under the control of the party submitting the request. Deere & Company (“Deere”), for instance, was granted a waiver of certain Part 15 rules to permit the operation of fixed white space devices on off-road agricultural equipment used by its customers.13/ The Commission determined that grant of the waiver to Deere served the public interest, even though “it is not ostensibly the ‘operator’” of the device or the agricultural machinery for which the waiver was requested, because it would increase crop yields and reduce food production costs without causing harmful interference.14/ Here too would grant of RADWIN’s request for waiver serve the public interest even though it does not own or operate the device for which the waiver is requested. Consistent with the relief granted by the Commission to others and as noted above, RADWIN’s customers have agreed to operate pursuant to the instant request for waiver and any conditions that may be imposed by the Commission in granting this request. Accordingly, to help meet America’s increasing connectivity demands during COVID-19, the Commission should grant RADWIN’s request, on behalf of its customers, for waiver expeditiously.

* * * *

RADWIN looks forward to your prompt response. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly, or our counsel, Russell Fox at Mintz – [email protected] (202-434-7483).

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Adi Nativ

Adi Nativ Vice President, Global Business Development [email protected]

Attachments cc: (Electronically with Attachments) Aaron Goldberger Ira Keltz Aspasia Paroutsas

Keep Americans Connected During Coronavirus Pandemic, FCC (Mar. 20, 2020), https://docs.fcc.gov/ public/attachments/DOC-363211A1.pdf. 12/ Keeps Americans Connected Pledge at 2. 13/ See Deere & Company Request for Limited Waiver of Part 15 Rules for Fixed White Spaces Device, Order, 31 FCC Rcd 2131 (2016). 14/ See id. ¶¶ 1, 12.

6 Jamison Prime Michael Ha Hugh VanTuyl

5 Attachment 1

States with Coverage WISP Name First Name Last Name Email Title Phone Area Using RADWIN Director of Outside Agile Networks Kyle Barnes [email protected] Plant 317-757-9793 OH Director of RF Alaska Communications Gerrit Bode [email protected] Engineering 907-885-7858 AK Director of Network Arvig Enterprises Inc. Rick Mueller [email protected] Engineering 320-256-0541 MN Director of Wireless Astrea Steve Mason [email protected] Operations 906-440-3446 MI Luyanda- Specialist Equipment AT&T Raul Rosario [email protected] Design 787-624-3207 Puerto Rico Barger Creek Wireless Carl Cadwallader [email protected] Owner 612-385-4874 MI Big Wave Wireless, LLC Amye Mercer [email protected] President 469-640-0030 TX Wireless Operations Cal.net, Inc. Wayne Hamilton [email protected] Manager 530-672-1078 CA Coon Valley Coop Telephone Company Jim Nelson [email protected] General Manager 641-524-2111 IA Country Wireless Jeremy Carolfi [email protected] General Manager 715-389-8584 WI East Buchanan Telephone Company Mike Becker [email protected] General Manager 319-935-3011 IA Farmers Telephone Company Tim Hill [email protected] General Manager 712-379-3001 IA Senior Architect Frontier Communications CARLOS CARDONA [email protected] Wireless Network 786-899-6302 29 States High Desert Doug Dawson [email protected] President 775-575-9593 NV HILLCOUNTRY Wireless David McCullough [email protected] Owner 830-225-1465 TX IGL TeleConnect Adam Nelson [email protected] Plant Manager 712-363-6060 IA Inland Telephone Brad York [email protected] Central Office GM 208-413-5040 WA Director of Broadband KanOkla Networks Chris Hahn [email protected] Networks 620-845-5500 OK, KS States with Coverage WISP Name First Name Last Name Email Title Phone Area Using RADWIN Meeker Cooperative Light Director of Broadband & Power Luke Johnson [email protected] Operations 320-593-4120 MN Mud Lake Telephone Cooperative Justin Petersen [email protected] General Manager 208-374-5401 ID Nimbus Solutions Michael Halls [email protected] Owner 970-759-3634 CO One Internet America Leisser Barrera [email protected] CEO 951-377-8844 CA Technology Panora Telco Curt Thornberry [email protected] Development Director 641-755-2424 IA PCI Broadband David Wainwright [email protected] Operations Manager 719-264-1111 CO PocketiNet Communications, Inc. Fredrick Facemire [email protected] Director of Technology 509-593-4711 WA Director of Technical Powernet Greg Gerber [email protected] Research 513-645-5031 OH, KY, FL Prairieburg Telephone Company Don Reichenauer [email protected] Plant Manager 319-437-3611 IA Rfwave LLC. Tom Dunne [email protected] Owner 406-560-1012 MT SkyPacket Networks Jason Wigfield [email protected] General Manager 240-580-2777 WV Director of Wireless Strata Networks Terry Stringham [email protected] Engineering 435-622-5351 UT Texoma Communications, LLC JJ McGrath [email protected] Owner 903-271-8899 TX Network Operations Twin Valley Telephone Larry Mitchell [email protected] Manager 913-439-9991 KS United Wireless Communications Inc Mike Laskowsky [email protected] Director of Operations 620-789-4505 KS Valley Communications Association, Inc. Nate Johnson [email protected] EVP of Broadband 775-727-2219 NV, CA Verso Networks William Fowler [email protected] President 720-863-4532 CO Wireless Program NV, CA, UT, WAM Com Wilber Mijangos [email protected] Manager 562-416-4724 AZ Manager of Wireless Win Win Wireless Alexander Mann [email protected] Services 716-244-1280 NY

2 States with Coverage WISP Name First Name Last Name Email Title Phone Area Using RADWIN WM Wireless Inc. D/B/A SpeedyNet Wilfredo Mendez [email protected] President 939-218-7885 Puerto Rico Worldnet Director of Carrier Telecommunications Wilma Perez [email protected] Relations 787-705-7006 Puerto Rico Xchange Telecom/Skywire Networks Mordy Gross [email protected] SVP 646-722-7285 NY

3 Attachment 2

[E-Mail to Radwin customers – COVID-19 Emergency Waiver] Time sensitive!

RADWIN requests FCC to grant a waiver to increase network capacity during COVID-19 crisis.

To whom this may concern,

I hope you and your families are holding up as well as possible under the difficult circumstances imposed on us due to the spread of COVID-19.

As more Americans work and learn from home, try to stay in touch and take advantage of telemedicine where it is available, your networks may be even more stressed than usual.

That is why RADWIN asked the staff of the FCC to consider granting a waiver for RADWIN customers that employ our JET Point-to-MultiPoint fixed wireless access solutions, allowing the base station to transmit at higher power enabling subscribers to connect at higher capacity and enhanced robustness, to your network, allowing your systems to better support the increased demands created by current circumstances. The request – for this beam-forming product line – will provide better service to your subscribers during this period of increased traffic while minimizing the impact on the surrounding radio frequency environment. Of course, the waiver would apply only during the limited time defined by the FCC to meet the expanded needs created by COVID-19 and the equipment would revert to its current state when the waiver expires.

We proposed to FCC staff that RADWIN would submit this waiver request on behalf of its service provider customers. If the FCC grants our request on your behalf, we will remotely modify your base station equipment to operate at higher power, enabling whatever higher EIRP the FCC allows. That will allow your networks to better address the stress it may experience due to the higher demand created by COVID-19. Once the FCC grants relief, we will provide further instructions about how the equipment will be modified to the higher power and reverted back to the original settings at the end of the waiver period.

We are still in the process of defining the details of the waiver request with FCC staff. While we are optimistic it will grant our request, there are no guarantees. We know that the FCC staff will want to know which service providers the waiver will cover and the geographic areas (by state and county) in which the affected service providers operate. And we will represent to the FCC that the providers that seek relief are doing so to meet specific expanded requirements created by COVID-19. We do not believe this opportunity will be available indefinitely. Therefore, in order to ensure you can be covered by a waiver we obtain, please complete the form by APRIL 13, 2020.

Please feel free to forward to known RADWIN customers.

Stay safe and healthy,

Reinhard Florin, General Manager US & Canada, [email protected]