I think this would fall in to the latter scenario. 46 billion light years is the edge of the observable universe in the sense that light emitted by those regions has reached us by now. But these regions are beyond the cosmic event horizon, which is the distance at which light emitted now will ever reach us. That distance is about 17 billion light years.
I believe that it would also be true that at a much much closer distance, the signal strength would fall below the CMB and become practically invisible, due to the inverse square law.
I think this would fall in to the latter scenario. 46 billion light years is the edge of the observable universe in the sense that light emitted by those regions has reached us by now. But these regions are beyond the cosmic event horizon, which is the distance at which light emitted now will ever reach us. That distance is about 17 billion light years.
I believe that it would also be true that at a much much closer distance, the signal strength would fall below the CMB and become practically invisible, due to the inverse square law.