Spectrum Needs of U.S. Tribal Communities

Recommendation #45

FCC Chapter: 5.17

Status: In progress

The Federal Communications Commission should take into account the unique spectrum needs of U.S. Tribal communities when implementing the sprectrum recommendations.

Through the following actions, the FCC should evaluate its policies and rules to address obstacles to greater use of spectrum on Tribal lands, including access to spectrum by Tribal communities:

1. Spectrum dashboard. Facilitating access to the FCC's spectrum dashboard will be critical to helping Tribal communities use spectrum or identify non-Tribal parties that hold licenses to serve Tribal lands. To enhance Tribal access to such information, future iterations of the spectrum dashboard should include information identifying spectrum allocated and assigned in Tribal lands. If the FCC conducts spectrum utilization studies in the future, those studies should identify Tribal lands as distinct entities.
2. Tribal Land Bidding Credit. Since 2000, the Commission has administered a Tribal Land Bidding Credit (TLBC) program to provide incentives to wireless telecommunications carriers to serve Tribal lands. The FCC should revisit the TLBC program to determine whether it can be modified to facilitate Tribal access to spectrum in Tribal lands and better promote deployment of communications services to Tribal communities.
3. Tribal priority. The FCC has established a Tribal priority in the threshold analysis stage of the FM radio allotment and AM radio licensing processes. Recognizing that the statutory and regulatory procedures for licensing wireless services are different in some respects from those applicable to broadcast stations, the FCC should consider expanding any Tribal priority policy to include the process for licensing fixed and mobile wireless licenses covering Tribal lands, potentially considering geographic carve-out license areas for Tribal lands.
4. Build-out. The FCC should consider providing additional flexibility and incentives for the build-out of facilities serving Tribal lands. For example, if a licensee has fulfilled its construction requirement but has failed to provide service to Tribal lands, the FCC should consider alternative mechanisms to facilitate Tribal access to such unused spectrum. These mechanisms might include developing rules for re-licensing the unused spectrum to the Tribal community for the provision of services, mandating partitioning or disaggregation of the spectrum, and encouraging the use of secondary market mechanisms for the purpose of deploying services to Tribal areas.
5. White spaces. The FCC should move expeditiously to resolve pending petitions for reconsideration in the TV white spaces proceeding. Among other issues, this proceeding should determine whether and to what extent the FCC should exclude LPTV band devices in the border areas with Mexico and Canada, including the Tribal lands in those areas. Further, the FCC should proceed to consider higherpower fixed operations in rural areas, which often include Tribal lands.