Unlicensed

House Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO), and 36 Members of the committee sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission to raise serious concerns with the FCC’s plan to redirect more than half the 5.9 GHz spectrum band. In December 2019, the FCC proposed to reallocate more than half of the 5.9 GHz radio frequency band (or Safety Band) to unlicensed operations, such as Wi-Fi.

Microsoft is pushing the Federal Communications Commission to respond to its May 2019 petition for rulemaking on expanding access to the so-called white spaces between TV channels. The company wants the FCC to allow more sharing in the broadcast band for unlicensed wireless. In meetings with FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr, Microsoft and its representatives came armed with a report outlining how wireless internet providers have been able to boost their throughput tenfold using TV white spaces.

Months after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai reiterated his support for plans to allocate more than 1,200 megahertz of unlicensed spectrum on the 6GHz band for Wi-Fi usage, the Wi-Fi industry is moving to hit the ground running with the additional real estate in 2020.

The Federal Communications Commission voted to take a fresh and comprehensive look at the 5.9 GHz (5.850-5.925 GHz) band, proposing rule changes to ensure that this spectrum supports its highest and best use for the American people. For the past two decades, the entire 75 megahertz of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band has been reserved for use by Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC), a radio service designed to enable vehicle-related communications. However, after 20 years, DSRC still has not been widely deployed, and this spectrum therefore generally remains unused.

On Aug 2, 2019, Reps Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Fred Upton (R-MI) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai about a recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the 5.9 GHz band, urging the FCC to take a technology neutral approach to allow for testing of the Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) communications platform. 

After 20 years of seeing these prime airwaves [in the 5.9 GHz band] go largely unused, the time has come for the FCC to take a fresh look at the 5.9 GHz band. And I’m pleased to announce that today, I shared with my FCC colleagues a proposal to end the uncertainty around the 5.9 GHz band and set a path for the deployment of new services. Specifically, I’m proposing to make available the lower 45 MHz of the band for unlicensed uses like Wi-Fi and allocate the upper 20 MHz for a new automotive communications technology, Cellular Vehicle to Everything, or C-V2X.

Power companies, first responders and railroads are intensifying criticism of the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to allow Wi-Fi traffic on the 6 GHz band of airwaves they currently use.

The Federal Communications Commission remains intent on repurposing airwaves to handle surging Wi-Fi data traffic, despite opposition from power companies and first responders who say it could interfere with their communications systems. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai defended the agency’s plan to allocate more spectrum to meet exploding Wi-Fi demand at a recent Senate appropriations panel hearing. The agency may finalize its proposal later this year or early in 2020, commission watchers say. “I truly believe that American consumers can have the best of both worlds,” Chairman Pai told lawmakers.

In 2018, I talked about our 5G FAST plan. The plan has three central planks: freeing up spectrum, promoting wireless infrastructure, and modernizing our regulations to promote more fiber deployment. We’ve been active on all three fronts, and there’s mounting evidence that our efforts are working.  We’re working on the complicated task of freeing up spectrum for 5G in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, commonly called the C-Band. This is a critical band for 5G, and I’m optimistic that we will have results to show on this front this fall.