Spectrum

The Trump administration outlined a plan to commercialize a swath of military radio frequencies for use in next-generation 5G networks, yielding to cellphone carriers that have sought the spectrum for their own use. The White House plan would arrange for the Federal Communications Commission to auction 100 megahertz of prized mid-band spectrum starting in December 2021, allowing telecom companies to bid on licenses for them.

The Federal Communications Commission established final application and bidding procedures for the auction of 280 megahertz of mid-band spectrum for 5G and other advanced wireless services. This auction will offer 5,684 new flexible-use overlay licenses based on Partial Economic Areas (PEAs) for spectrum in the 3.7– 3.98 GHz band. This spectrum holds the potential to be prime spectrum for 5G services, and the procedures adopted today will ensure the assignment to auction winners of contiguous spectrum blocks allowing wide channel bandwidths that support 5G deployment.

5G wireless is no longer vaporware, but a lot of haze still surrounds the forms of 5G each nationwide carrier sells.

On May 12, 2020, Reps Randy Weber (R-TX), Brian Babin (R-TX), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Roger Williams (R-TX), Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to express concerns about the FCC report and order "Transitioning the 900 MHz BAnd to Enable Broadband Deployment" and its potential impacts on the US' refining and petrochemical industries.

The Federal Communications Commission grants the request of Kuiper Systems LLC (Kuiper or Amazon) to deploy a non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) system to provide service using certain Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS) and Mobile-Satellite Service (MSS) Ka-band frequencies with conditions adopted. We conclude that grant of Kuiper’s application would advance the public interest by
authorizing a system designed to increase the availability of high-speed broadband service to consumers, government, and businesses.

The Federal Communications Commission extended the Rural Tribal Priority Window for 2.5 GHz spectrum applications by 30 days in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This window opened on Feb 3, 2020, and to date, over 200 Tribal entities have submitted applications. As a result of July 31’s action, other eligible Tribal entities can continue to apply for licenses for currently unassigned 2.5 GHz spectrum over their rural Tribal lands until 6:00 pm EDT on Sept 2, 2020.

On July 27, Rep Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced the Deploying the Internet by Guaranteeing Indian Tribes Autonomy over Licensing on Reservations Act (DIGITAL Act), a bill which ends the current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) practice of selling wireless spectrum rights on the lands of Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations and grants ownership, management, and governance of all spectrum to those groups in perpetuity.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) announced he has placed a hold on the nomination of Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly for another term until Commissioner O’Rielly publically commits to vote to overturn the current Ligado Order. Chairman Inhofe said, "Over the past few months, I have sent letters, held hearings and called countless officials to highlight what we all know to be true: the FCC’s Ligado Order is flawed and will lead to significant harm to our military and the thousands of individuals and businesses that rely on GPS.

The Senate Commerce Committee vetted the current state of spectrum policy and broadband availability at a July 23 hearing. There was general agreement that rural deployment was a problem and a priority, particularly during a pandemic; that the data on where broadband is and isn't — thus where the money needs to be put, or not — is flawed and needs fixing; and that sharing as well as clearing spectrum was important. 

Native American communities should have the same access to the opportunities of the digital age as other Americans. Yet, internet access in Indian Country remains stubbornly and persistently low. Addressing this problem requires smart policy and a scarce resource regulated by the Federal Communications Commission known as wireless spectrum. For the first time, tribal communities have an opportunity to obtain wireless spectrum to expand broadband access on their lands—but the challenges of COVID-19 threaten to diminish its potential. The FCC can and should fix that.