Spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission made additional mid-band spectrum available for 5G service in the United States. Specifically, the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announced the grant of 5,676 licenses in the 3.7 GHz service (3.7 to 3.98 GHz, also referred to as the C-band) following completion of Auction 107 earlier in 2021. The action keeps the transition of this band to flexible use on track, paving the way for carriers to use this spectrum to provide 5G and other advanced wireless services.

The Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending (SMRA) Auction has become a defacto standard auction mechanism for the award of radio spectrum for commercial mobile services around the world. The winning bid price in such SMRA spectrum auctions is of interest, as it determines the valuation of the scarce resource by the mobile operators, and also indicates the revenue accrued to the governments as auction proceeds. This report uses a cross-country panel dataset to examine the determinants of spectrum prices of all the SMRA auctions held in 25 countries from 1994 to 2019.

When T-Mobile acquired Sprint in April of 2020, it brought our major wireless carrier choices from four down to three. Recognizing that this would indeed be a bad thing for US wireless customers (aka all of us), T-Mobile agreed to a set of conditions with the FCC’s blessing that would theoretically position Dish Network to fill the Sprint-shaped hole in our wireless landscape. In other words, one wireless competitor was allowed to reduce competition only if it agreed to help set up another competitor in its place. Sounds a little suspect, right?

The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a joint Public Notice to provide information about the cooperative sharing framework for federal and non-federal coordination in certain defined areas where and when federal incumbents require continued access in the 3.45–3.55 GHz band. The notice provides information and guidance on the overall coordination process, as contemplated by the 3.45 GHz Band 2d R&O.

AT&T struck a deal to carry Dish Network’s existing cellphone customers over its wireless network, bringing two erstwhile rivals closer as they each pursue more advanced 5G technology. The nonexclusive deal would pay AT&T at least $5 billion over 10 years to support Dish’s consumer cellphone brands, which include Boost Mobile, Ting, and Republic Wireless. The agreement also provides an avenue for AT&T to use some Dish wireless spectrum licenses to support both companies’ customers.

Jessica Rosenworcel, acting chairperson of the Federal Communications Commission, said that the key to helping close the digital divide is to focus on 5G midband spectrum, not millimeter wave. She said that the FCC made a mistake a few years ago when it focused all of its energy in the early 5G days on millimeter wave.

Federal Communications Commission Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the August Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, August 5, 2021:

AT&T now covers more than 250 million people across the US with its flavor of 5G, which includes low-band spectrum in large parts of the country. It reached that goal a full six months earlier than originally planned. The company uses dynamic spectrum sharing, which allowed it to speed its 5G deployment by putting it on top of its LTE network. Its millimeter wave (mmWave) technology, which it calls 5G Plus, is now in parts of 38 cities and 20 venues, with plans to be in parts of 40 cities and 40 venues by the end of 2021.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed and sought comment on updated rules for short-range radars in the 60 GHz spectrum band. Cutting edge radar sensing technology has been used to enable in-car radar-based technology to monitor for children left in dangerous, hot cars and touchless control of devices, including to promote accessibility for users with mobility or speech impairments.

The Federal Communications Commission denied an appeal from a California-based company that repeatedly disregarded its obligations to reasonably share a channel with other licensees. Mobile Relay Associates disputed the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s earlier imposition of a fine for improperly monopolizing use of a shared wireless communications channel, failing to monitor the channel to detect possible interference problems, and actually causing interference to co-channel licensees. The Bureau had warned the company repeatedly to change its behavior, but Mobile Relay did not do so.