The Licensed Wireless Dilemma

One of the stickiest issues that State broadband offices are going to be wrestling with is how to recognize the service areas for ISPs that use licensed spectrum to deliver rural broadband. This issue comes from a ruling from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that, for purposes of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants, fixed wireless networks using unlicensed spectrum are deemed to be unreliable. That means that wireless internet service providers that serve customers with unlicensed spectrum are assumed to be unserved – regardless of the speeds being delivered. The sticky question for a State broadband office is how to verify the service area of an existing wireless provider using licensed spectrum. It’s not a straightforward answer. There are a lot of about how to apply the NTIA ruling on unlicensed spectrum, and I haven't the slightest idea how to answer them. I don’t envy a State broadband office that gets challenges on this issue because it’s not an easy issue to understand or resolve.