Spectrum

This paper tracks increasingly aggressive initiatives by the United States government to reallocate spectrum on an expedited and unilateral basis well before conclusion of inter-governmental coordination. Rather than embrace the customary commitment to achieve consensus on global spectrum allocations at the International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”), the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has auctioned off large blocks of frequencies for the next generation (“5G”) of wireless services.

The Federal Communications Commission on July 23 is beginning its first auction of licenses for prime, mid-band spectrum suitable for 5G. The auction will offer county-based Priority Access Licenses (PALs) in the 3550-3650 MHz band, which will encourage the rapid deployment of next-generation wireless networks in the band. This is a critical step in freeing up spectrum for the commercial marketplace—a core part of the FCC’s 5G FAST Plan. 

A lot of hopes are riding on the auction of spectrum in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band, which has a start date of July 23. The spectrum is considered mid-band – and industry stakeholders increasingly see mid-band spectrum offering the optimum mixture of bandwidth and coverage for 5G deployments. Perhaps no one has higher hopes for the auction than Verizon, which is light on mid-band spectrum holdings.

One of the most important developments for connectivity for Native American Tribes, Alaskan Native villages and Native Hawaiian communities is the 2.5 GHz Rural Tribal Priority Window (TPW). This gives federally recognized Tribes on rural Tribal lands the opportunity to apply for free spectrum licenses in one of bands best suited for 5G. Tribes that receive these licenses will have the capability to build out their own 5G networks, bringing real, reliable and affordable broadband to communities that have the worst broadband access in the US.

Public Knowledge, INCOMPAS, the Open Technology Institute and others warned Congress not to try to use the appropriations process -- via language in the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) -- to undo the Federal Communications Commission's Ligado decision at the behest of the Defense Department, saying it would be tantamount to sabotaging the FCC's spectrum authority. The FCC has already unanimously granted the Ligado (formerly LightSquared) proposal to use satellite spectrum adjacent to GPS spectrum for terrestrial broadband so long as it meets various conditions to prevent in

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the August Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, August 6, 2020:

C-band Auction Procedures – The FCC will consider a Public Notice that would adopt procedures for the auction of new flexible-use overlay licenses in the 3.7–3.98 GHz band (Auction 107) for 5G, the Internet of Things, and other advanced wireless services. (AU Docket No. 20-25)

The House Commerce Committee advanced seven communications bills and one House resolution to the full House of Representatives.

Wireless equipment provider Nokia expects the International Telecommunications Union to begin work on defining the next generation of wireless technology to be known as 6G in 2021. But the company already has some ideas of its own about what 6G should look like. Nokia visionaries see the technology supporting peak speeds of 1,000 Gbps, and they see service being deployed in the terahertz (THz) band, which is even higher frequency than the multi-gigahertz (GHz) millimeter wave bands that are being pioneered for 5G.

The Federal Communications Commission announced that the post-incentive auction transition has successfully reached the July 13, 2020 deadline established for television stations to move off their pre-auction channel assignments. This milestone signals that all of the valuable low-band airwaves sold in the ground-breaking broadcast incentive auction are now available for wireless mobile broadband services. This newly licensed 600 MHz band spectrum is already benefiting millions of US consumers, as it is being used to provide wireless service, including 5G, across the country.