Lawmaker raises alarm bells over 5.9 GHz, C-band

Concerns about the 5.9 GHz band came up again during a hearing of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg gave testimony. But that wasn’t all. Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) reiterated his concerns about potential interference from 5G in the C-band – the very band where the likes of Verizon and AT&T just pledged over $80 billion for access to airwaves for 5G. The spectrum currently is used by satellite companies that need to move to the upper part of the band in order to make room for 5G. Generally speaking, DeFazio said there are two spectrum issues in play: one is ground-based and one is based in space.