Spectrum

Nathan Simington is the newest commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, but just one year into his role, the former National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) official is bringing his all to the table. The Republican commissioner recently spoke about his reaction to the FCC and NTIA's newly announced Spectrum Coordination Initiative, as well as his views on inter-agency collaboration and social media regulation.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced a new initiative to improve US government coordination on spectrum management. The Spectrum Coordination Initiative will involve actions by both agencies to strengthen the processes for decision making and information sharing and to work cooperatively to resolve spectrum policy issues. Specifically, the FCC Chairwoman and the NTIA Assistant Secretary have committed to the following initial actions:

The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has appointed 29 outside experts to serve on the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC), which provides advice on a range of policy and technical issues related to wireless technology and the use of spectrum.

Nokia is using the unlicensed portion of the CBRS 3.5 GHz spectrum band to supply a private LTE network for a school district in San Joaquin Valley (CA). Nokia announced that it completed the first of two phases for the deployment. It’s working with AggreGateway, a small wireless engineering firm based in San Diego (CA). The network serves students in the Dos Palos Oro Loma (DPOL) school district of California. Located in the predominantly rural San Joaquin Valley, the district comprises five campuses and serves a population of 5,000 residents.

T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert commented how it was regrettable that “this has been so widely reported as a 5G issue,” when asked about C-band spectrum and the concerns of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about possible interference. He’s not alone. A lot of folks regret that the entire 5G market is getting a bad name from C-band. It’s one of the spectrum bands that carriers are using to deliver 5G services –  but one of many. Granted, it’s one of the most valued – companies spent more than $80 billion for the rights to use it in the Federal Communications Commission’s auction in 2021.

In the past year, the growing demand to open America’s airwaves for 5G and next-generation connectivity has only increased, bringing national attention to spectrum’s role in closing the digital divide and solidifying global telecommunications leadership. Yet, as demand has increased, the availability of much-needed commercial spectrum has waned, putting more pressure on the nation’s spectrum experts at the Federal Communications Commission to identify and unleash different bands — like the 12 GHz spectrum band — for new uses.

Rep Doris Matsui (D-CA), along with seven colleagues, sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to support the development and execution of the Biden Administration’s spectrum policy by bolstering the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and quickly nominating a Chief Technology Officer (CTO). “To ensure agencies have the requisite resources to fulfill their mandates and to maintain US leadership in next-generation communications networks, it is imperative that the Federal government have a unified approach to spectrum policy,” said the letter.

T-Mobile’s 2.5 GHz spectrum is not as locked down as most people might think it is. It turns out T-Mobile leases, but does not own, much of its 2.5 GHz spectrum. And at least one private investment firm is reaching out to the owners of the spectrum and making offers to buy it. T-Mobile is always bragging about its “layer-cake” spectrum position with a good combination of low-band, mid-band and high-band spectrum. It’s particularly prone to boast about its mid-band 2.5 GHz spectrum, which it inherited from Sprint.

US safety regulators have received more than 100 pilot reports of possible interference from 5G wireless signals -- including three near Chicago O’Hare International Airport -- since the new mobile phone service began less than two weeks ago. The reports of anomalies on aircraft devices known as radar altimeters are being reviewed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Interference from the new 5G service has been ruled out in many of the cases, and it remains unclear whether the others indicate a safety hazard or just pilots being overly cautious.