Trump Administration Seeking 'Creative Solutions' on Spectrum, White House Aide Says

Putting a number on how much spectrum should be made available for broadband is difficult, Guyselman said. “It’s almost impossible to identify a number goal and have it actually make sense and sort of drive the debate.” The administration is looking at how to balance various interests, “not only the needs of industry and consumers but also what the federal government and federal agencies will need,” she said. The administration wants “creative solutions” on how spectrum is used, shared and allocated, she said.

Guyselman declined to comment directly on the administration’s leaked memo by a “senior National Security Council official” proposing the U.S. build a national 5G network, selling access on a wholesale basis to carriers (see 1801290034). “It does illustrate an important point, which is how critical cybersecurity is going to be as we move towards 5G,” she said. “It’s top of mind for everything that we’re doing in the administration when we’re thinking about these new networks.” Lots of work remains, she said. The FCC, Congress, the administration, industry and other federal government agencies all have a role to play, she said: “We will be in a position where a bad actor could cause a lot of harm.”

A huge number of devices will be attached to the 5G network, Guyselman said. “While there’s great potential, there’s also great risk,” she said. “It’s a little terrifying. ... It’s really something that we’re going to have to address.” There’s no “silver bullet,” she said. The relevant bodies will have to set standards “conducive to cybersecurity,” she said. “American leadership is so critical so that we have networks and devices that are protective of consumers and of our networks in the federal government and other critical users.”

There’s “perennial debate” over whether there needs to be a “top-down government-mandated approach to cybersecurity or more of a bottom-up market-driven approach,” said Sean Farrell, House Communications Subcommittee staffer. The market moves so quickly that regulation “is doomed to failure,” he said. “There’s no way government regulators and regulations could keep up with the pace of innovation.” The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s proposed framework (see 1802160043) is a good start and takes more of a “bottom-up approach,” he said. “That’s the way we should consider going.”

A fix is coming on giving the FCC the ability to again hold spectrum auctions, with language addressing the upfront payments issue included in the FCC Reauthorization Act (HR-4986), which cleared the Commerce Committee last week (see 1802140064), Farrell said. The bill should move “expeditiously” through the House, he said. “Predictions for the Senate are anyone’s guess.”

Sanjay Udani, Verizon vice president-technology policy, said there are some things 5G is not. “It’s not a replacement” for 4G or LTE, he said. “We’re used to the next generation … replacing the previous one,” he said. The next generation won’t be one network but several different networks, some of which are already deployed, he said. Verizon already has deployed nationwide a narrow-band network for the IoT, he said. In the works, Verizon is launching a second narrowband IoT network for devices that need little connectivity and operate at low power levels, Udani said. “It’s basically going to be dial-up speeds,” he said. “What 5G is going to do is come up with more different flavors of a network that adapts to what you’re doing,” he said.

Fifth generation is beginning to become reality, said Jeff Stewart, AT&T assistant vice president-external and legislative affairs. AT&T is opening a new lab in Austin to test new radio features of 5G, he said. The standard likely will be deployed in “waves,” starting with enhanced mobile broadband -- with a boost in speed that will be noticeable to consumers, he said. The next wave will be massive IoT followed by ultra-low latency and ultra-reliable network uses, Stewart said.