Spectrum

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the April Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Friday, April 12, 2019:
5G Incentive Auction Public Notice – The Commission will consider a Public Notice seeking comment on procedures for the incentive auction of Upper Microwave Flexible Use Licenses in the Upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz Bands (Auction 103) for Next Generation Wireless Services. (AU Docket 19-59)

The agenda for the Federal Communications Commission's April open meeting:

In a report and order adopted March 20, the Federal Communications Commission has sent the signal that allowing the so-called white spaces between TV channels to be used for fixed and mobile wireless devices are ready for prime time.

From constructing, reforming, and operating more efficient subsidy programs, to installing regulatory flexibility for operators, to striking the byzantine regulatory straightjacket of socalled “net neutrality,” this Commission has taken necessary actions to facilitate nationwide broadband deployment by the private sector. Of course, more needs to be done, but considering the starting point and where we are today, it is fair to say the Commission is on the right path. In reality, the Commission plays a small role in improving broadband deployment.

At the Federal Communications Commission, we’re working to be good partners for broadband builders like you [Wireless internet service providers]. And today, I’d like to mention a few of the ways we’re trying to do that: through modernized infrastructure rules, fair support programs, and smarter spectrum policies. In 2019, I am taking another look at the federal rules governing wireless infrastructure deployment. We will look to fully and faithfully implement the decisions Congress has made to streamline the deployment of next-generation technologies.

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes to reconfigure the 900 MHz band to facilitate broadband via a market-driven, voluntary exchange process to allow existing licensees to agree to a voluntarily plan for relocating incumbents and for transitioning the band. The 900 MHz band (896-901/935-940 MHz) is designated for narrowband private land mobile radio (PLMR) communications by Business/Industrial/Land Transportation (B/ILT) licensees and for Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) providers, with deployed systems primarily used for two-way communication by land transportation, utility, ma

The Federal Communications Commission opened a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to develop a record on whether the existing partitioning, disaggregation, and spectrum leasing rules have succeeded and to evaluate whether they could be modified. Specifically, the Notice:

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to encourage the development of new communications technologies and expedite the deployment of new services in the spectrum above 95 GHz. Prior to this decision, the FCC had no rules for authorizing communications above 95 GHz, other than by amateur operators or through experiments of limited duration and scope. To enable innovators and entrepreneurs to most readily access this spectrum, the Spectrum Horizons First Report and Order creates a new category of experimental licenses for use of frequencies between 95 GHz and 3 THz.

The Federal Communications Commission intends to move ahead with a plan to auction off wireless radio frequencies that scientists say could negatively impact critical satellite data used in weather forecasting. The auction, scheduled for March 14, will proceed, the FCC said, despite protests from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA, as well as two committees in the US House of Representatives.

House Science Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) asked the Federal Communications Commission to delay a radio frequency spectrum auction for next-generation 5G wireless communications, which is scheduled for March 14. The , committee leaders cited concerns that the spectrum under consideration could interfere with signals for sensors related to weather and climate forecasting, and said such interference could impact public safety.