Chairman Pai Remarks at Americas Spectrum Management Conference

In 2018, I talked about our 5G FAST plan. The plan has three central planks: freeing up spectrum, promoting wireless infrastructure, and modernizing our regulations to promote more fiber deployment. We’ve been active on all three fronts, and there’s mounting evidence that our efforts are working.  We’re working on the complicated task of freeing up spectrum for 5G in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, commonly called the C-Band. This is a critical band for 5G, and I’m optimistic that we will have results to show on this front this fall. Also, the Federal Communications Commission is studying reallocation of spectrum in the 3.1-3.55 GHz band for commercial use, and I hope our federal partners will join us in that effort. 

As for modernizing our regulations to promote fiber deployment, we’ve made it easier for carriers to transition from yesterday’s copper networks to tomorrow’s fiber networks. We’ve ended utility-style broadband regulation inspired by rules from the 1930s. And we’ve also adopted a new policy known as “one-touch make-ready.” These policies are working as well. In 2018, for example, fiber was deployed to more new homes in the United States than any year before. And infrastructure investment was up by $3 billion last year compared to 2017.

As many of you know, the World Radiocommunication Conference is just around the corner.At the FCC, our priorities for WRC-19 track the same priorities we have at home and for our region: closing the digital divide and promoting 5G and other next-generation innovations. We need to enable regional and global spectrum harmonization opportunities for all services, including broadcasting, Wi-Fi, mobile technologies, and satellites. We need to create international economies of scale, roaming, and interoperability, lowering prices for manufacturers and consumers