Chairman Pai Proposes More Critical Mid-Band Spectrum for 5G

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai shared with his colleagues a draft proposal which would take decisive steps toward making the 3.45-3.55 GHz band available for commercial use throughout the contiguous US. This item will be on the agenda of the FCC’s Sept 30 Open Meeting and, if adopted, would position this 100 megahertz of mid-band spectrum for commercial 5G use. 

The item would be an important step toward satisfying Congress’s directive in the MOBILE NOW Act to make new spectrum available for flexible use and to work with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to evaluate the feasibility of allowing commercial use in this band. The item includes a Report and Order that would remove the secondary, non-federal allocations from the 3.3-3.55 GHz band, as the FCC proposed to do late in 2019. The item also includes a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on proposed changes to the rules governing the band to enable commercial use and coordination between federal and non-federal users. This Further Notice follows the Aug 10 announcement by the White House and the Department of Defense (DoD) that they had determined that DoD operations in the band could accommodate commercial 5G operations.