Chairman Pai Response to Sens Wyden and Cantwell Regarding 24 GHz Auction

On May 13, Sens Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai with a straight-forward request: don't allow wireless companies to operate in a 24 GHz band until vital weather forecasting operations are protected. 

On June 11, Chairman Pai responded by saying that in the FCC's interagency coordination process, other federal agencies did not object to expanding the existing permissible use of the 24.25-24.245 GHz and 24.75-25.25 GHz bands for 5G service. "Based on the record compiled in a notice-and-comment rulemaking, the Commission also concluded that its rules would protect weather satellites in the 23.6-24 GHz band from harmful interference." Chairman Pai wrote, "In short, the Commission's decisions with respect to spectrum have been and will continue to be based on sound science and engineering rather than exaggerated and unverified last-minute assertions." Chairman Pai also said the emission limits most recently advanced by the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are based on an unvalidated and badly flawed study. "Based on the ongoing work of the Commission's spectrum engineering experts, we do not need to choose between 5G and critical weather forecasting tools."