Spectrum

To maintain American leadership in the global 5G economy, the wireless industry must keep deploying more spectrum for consumers. It’s as simple as that. At T-Mobile, we have a record of putting our spectrum to good use quickly, now covering 326 million Americans with 5G service, 285 million of whom are covered by Ultra Capacity 5G. But in 2023, the government has not been doing its part to keep the pipeline flowing and action is needed. In 2022, the Federal Communication Commission completed Auction 108.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is working to catalyze the development of an open 5G wireless ecosystem to help the private sector move away from a highly consolidated marketplace with few vendors and technologies. One way it is doing this is through the lab at the Institute of Telecommunications Sciences, which is partnering with the Department of Defense on the 2023 5G Challenge.

UScellular announced that it has received full access to the 5G C-Band spectrum it was awarded from Auction 107 in March 2021, allowing the company to expand its 5G network faster than anticipated. UScellular upgraded more than 440 cell sites in preparation for this spectrum access, and the company will turn on this enhanced 5G service in the coming weeks – three months ahead of schedule.

Faster fixed wireless came a step closer because the Federal Communications Commission has approved testing of automated frequency coordination (AFC) systems for the 6 GHz band.

Dish Network isn’t the only entity eyeing T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum. Someone else who’s intimately affiliated with the spectrum is showing an interest, and it’s not one of the big wireless carriers. Burns & McDonnell (B&M), a large engineering and consulting firm, is seeking permission to participate in the court proceeding where Dish is asking for more time to buy T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum licenses, according to a research note by New Street Research (NSR). Dish filed for an extension with the US District Court for the District of Columbia earlier in August, 2023.

Somewhere above you right now, a plane is broadcasting its coordinates on 1090 megahertz. A satellite high above Earth is transmitting weather maps on 1694.1 MHz. On top of all that, every single phone and Wi-Fi router near you blasts internet traffic through the air over radio waves.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel responded to lawmakers' concerns over the ongoing proceeding expanding flexible use of the 12.2-12.7 GHz band. In the August 16, 2023 letter, the Chairwoman detailed the FCC's evaluations of the 12.2 GHz band and actions to mitigate issues.

In 2022, a study commissioned by CTIA basically called Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) a failure, in part due to its low power levels and limited use cases. Some saw it as a smear campaign against CBRS because CTIA would prefer the 3.1-3.45 GHz band to be licensed rather than end up looking more like CBRS, which involves a three-tiered sharing system to protect Department of Defense (DoD) incumbents. Federated Wireless 

Dish Network wants to buy 800 MHz licenses from T-Mobile, but it doesn’t have $3.5 billion on hand to finance the purchase, so it’s asking the US government to give it 10 more months to come up with the capital. In a filing with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, Dish argues that turmoil in global capital markets in the past few years have made Dish’s ability to buy the licenses more onerous than anticipated. Dish figures that 10 months is enough time to raise additional capital and obtain financing, in part because its just-announced 

The Federal Communications Commission has lost—albeit hopefully temporarily—its authority to conduct spectrum auctions. But luckily for consumers and industry, the agency still has tools to make desperately needed mid-band spectrum immediately available for terrestrial broadband uses. Thanks to changes in technology, the landscape around the lower 12 GHz band (12.2-12.7 MHz) has evolved significantly over the last several years. At the same time, 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) has taken the connectivity world by storm.