Disagreements Continue on Clearing 3.3-3.55 GHz Band
Replies show little emerging consensus on an NPRM commissioners approved 5-0 at their December meeting (see 1912120063) proposing to remove existing nonfederal secondary and amateur allocations in the 3.3-3.55 GHz band and to relocate incumbent nonfederal operations. Amateur radio operators raised concerns right after the rulemaking was approved (see 2002180056). Replies were posted through Tuesday in docket 19-348.
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“The Lower 3 GHz band is well suited to help meet the growing demand for critical mid-band spectrum to enable next-generation wireless services,” CTIA commented. “Deleting existing non-federal secondary allocations from the 3.3-3.55 GHz band in the Table of Frequency Allocations would be an important initial step toward satisfying Congress’s directives and making as much as 250 megahertz of spectrum available for advanced wireless services, including 5G.” The Mobile Now Act, approved by Congress in 2018, requires the FCC and the Commerce Department to make available new spectrum for mobile and fixed wireless broadband use.
Amateur operators said the spectrum is important to their operations. “America’s radio amateurs continue to exhibit the spirit of technical experimentation and innovation which has brought our nation and the world to the current highly advanced state of wireless communications,” said Texas operator Ross Snyder: “It would be foolhardy to foreclose future technological developments by summarily deleting an entire amateur band.”
Amateurs use the frequencies “extensively for data networks in support of emergency communications,” said Theodore Sheffield: “This is a terrible idea. … Here in Anchorage, Alaska we use these frequencies daily.” There's "no reason suggested by the Commission, or known to us, why the secondary status for Amateur Radio operations should not be continued,” said the American Radio Relay League.
The Open Technology Institute at New America said the citizens broadband radio service band shows the FCC could “rapidly open the 3.45-3.55 GHz segment … for commercial use by extending the existing, successful CBRS framework into the adjacent band.” The future of the lower part of the 3.1-3.55 GHz band is less clear, the group said: “Until the NTIA releases its forthcoming report on the feasibility of sharing the lower 3 GHz band with commercial wireless operators … the private sector cannot intelligently speculate about how much of the band, if any, can be repurposed for exclusive-use licensing on a nationwide basis.”
The record shows broad support for moving the operations out of the band, 5G Americas said. “Most commenters urged that the Commission act expeditiously and in conjunction with NTIA and other Federal partners to prepare the band for commercial wireless services.” Southern Co., which has operations in the band, said the FCC should modify or partially lift its licensing freeze on the spectrum. “The record indicates that this band segment is not among the mid-band spectrum that is used or under review by other countries for 5G services, nor does this band segment even appear to be under study or recommended for study on a regional or global basis,” said the utility.