3.5 GHz: New Ideas in the “Innovation Band”

In a speech in March at the Brookings Institution, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler issued a challenge -- let’s confront change in spectrum policy and reorient our perspective from what was to what can be. Now, the FCC is leading by example. The Commission is issuing a detailed proposal for a new service in the 3.5 GHz Band -- the Citizens Broadband Radio Service -- representing a watershed for innovative spectrum sharing policies. 3.5 GHz is an ideal “innovation band.”

Because the federal use in this band occurs primarily around the coasts, it is a great opportunity for intensive wireless broadband use on a shared basis. If the Commission is successful in creating a regulatory environment that encourages the Citizens Broadband Radio Service to flourish, it will simultaneously meet the demands of myriad spectrum uses and users. To be clear, we still have much work before us. The proposal is just that, a proposal. The Commission established a healthy comment cycle to allow for a spirited discussion of the many technical and policy details in the proposal. We are, however, reaching the end of this first chapter in the story of the 3.5 GHz Band. We hope that on the basis of this discussion in response to the proposal the Commission will be able to establish the new Citizens Broadband Radio Service in the rule books. Then the real work can begin, as the private sector invests in technology and networks that bring the service to life.