Adopting a Mid-Band Spectrum Screen for 5G Leadership

There is broad consensus that American leadership in the 5G economy depends in part on smart spectrum policy. This includes a sharp focus on building a strong and competitive ecosystem in mid-band allocations, where wide bands can be coupled with capabilities such as edge computing and network slicing to enable 5G to act as a catalyst for transforming industries and economies. To begin a debate about how to build such an ecosystem, AT&T filed a petition asking the Federal Communications Commission to adopt a separate spectrum screen for mid-band spectrum. Like the screens already established for high-and low-band spectrum, we believe that such a tool would assist the FCC in identifying spectrum aggregations that may cause competitive harm by allowing a licensee to hold so much mid-band spectrum in a given market that it becomes impossible for others to compete effectively.

[Joan Marsh is the Executive Vice President of Federal Regulatory Relations at AT&T.]