Lower 12 GHz can be a win-win-win for consumers, competition and U.S. leadership

The Federal Communications Commission has lost—albeit hopefully temporarily—its authority to conduct spectrum auctions. But luckily for consumers and industry, the agency still has tools to make desperately needed mid-band spectrum immediately available for terrestrial broadband uses. Thanks to changes in technology, the landscape around the lower 12 GHz band (12.2-12.7 MHz) has evolved significantly over the last several years. At the same time, 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) has taken the connectivity world by storm. Given the importance of identifying and maximizing the use of spectrum bands, I urge my peers at the FCC to immediately issue new rules to enable the use of 500 MHz of spectrum in the 12 GHz band for high-power fixed broadband. Authorizing the 12 GHz band for fixed broadband would represent a historic spectrum policy win: it is one of the few bands of scarce spectrum resources that is ready for immediate deployment — just in time for the National Telecommunications and Information Information's (NTIA) $42.5 billion investment in broadband. It can be utilized for higher power services without harming incumbent users or needing coordination with any government entities, allowing government dollars to go further and connect people sooner.

[Michael O’Rielly served as a Commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission from 2013-2020.]