FCC Commissioner O'Rielly at Wireless Connect 2019

The one principle that anyone engaged in wireless issues knows is that we cannot take time for granted. The Federal Communications Commission's purpose, as I see it, is to ensure that the regulatory environment and necessary spectrum exists to ensure the continued development and deployment of 5G and all next-generation wireless technologies. I appreciate that Chairman Pai asked me to take the helm on the Commission’s efforts to review the priority licensing, commonly referred to as PALs, for the 3.5 GHz, or CBRS, band. I will continue to pressure the FCC to get these frequencies into the hands of wireless providers as quickly as possible, but, unfortunately, I have been informed that it may take until next year at the earliest to conduct an auction. As I said, things always tend to take longer than they should in the government, and apparently reconstructing auction software over and over takes some time.