Innovation Month at the FCC

Feb 2 is Groundhog Day. Fittingly, I’m announcing an agenda for the Federal Communications Commission’s February meeting that revisits some familiar themes from the past year: modernizing outdated rules, closing the digital divide, and most significantly, promoting innovation.

Topping the agenda for Innovation Month will be a proposal to unleash new wireless services and technologies in frequencies above 95 GHz.  Traditionally, these airwaves haven’t been viewed as well-suited for communications services.  But recent advancements in propagation technology have changed the equation and expanded the boundary of usable spectrum.  As a result, these very high-band frequencies are today’s spectrum horizons.

Additionally, the FCC is set to take another step forward in our work to close the digital divide. In 2017, the Commission created a plan to invest $4.5 billion over the next 10 years to expand 4G LTE service to areas that don’t have it.  The Commission then received petitions for reconsideration for certain aspects of that Mobility Fund II Report & Order.  In three weeks, the Commission will vote on an item to resolve those aspects of the petitions that haven’t yet been addressed.  Resolving these questions would move us closer to the start of the Mobility Fund II reverse auction, and eventually the end of dead spots in rural America where wireless coverage simply isn’t available.


Innovation Month at the FCC