Chairman Pai's 5G plans make it harder for small ISPs to deploy broadband

The Federal Communications Commission is changing the rules for an upcoming spectrum auction in a way that will make it harder for small carriers to buy spectrum for deploying rural broadband. The change—requested by T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon—will help the big carriers deploy nationwide 5G networks, according to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's proposal.

In 2015, the Obama-era FCC set aside spectrum between 3550MHz and 3700MHz for a new Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) and ruled that 10MHz licenses would be auctioned off in individual Census tracts, which are small areas containing between 1,200 and 8,000 people each. Selling spectrum licenses in such small areas was meant to give small companies a shot at buying spectrum and deploying wireless broadband in underserved areas. But big carriers pushed the FCC to increase the size of the license areas, and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is complying. Chairman Pai's proposal, scheduled for an FCC vote on Oct 23, would increase the size of license areas from census tracts to counties. Pai's FCC says making the license areas bigger will help carriers use this spectrum for large 5G mobile networks. But small ISPs that would use the 3.5GHz band to deliver Internet service to rural homes say the change could prevent them from buying spectrum. To get a license covering an area smaller than a county, small ISPs would have to buy it from one of the winning bidders.