NTIA Supports FCC Proposals for Drone Use of 24 GHz Band
NTIA supports the FCC's proposals to change its rules for the 24.45-24.65 GHz band that would provide more spectrum for drones, the agency said in comments posted Thursday in docket 24-629. Other comments also supported the changes proposed in a January NPRM (see 2504160017). NTIA, which filed on behalf of the administration, said it's still developing comments on the other bands being studied to provide spectrum for uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS).
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NTIA also issued a warning. “Safety of all aviation systems, including emerging ones, must top all concerns,” and “the rules must ensure that new services, particularly secondary ones, respect the rights of existing primary and adjacent spectrum users.”
The Department of Homeland Security has most of the federal assignments in the 24 GHz spectrum, NTIA noted. “It harnesses them to detect and identify UAS used by drug traffickers and other bad actors seeking to harm the United States infrastructure and its residents.” The Department of Energy uses the band at its Savannah River Site, an “industrial complex responsible for national security and nonproliferation missions, disposition of nuclear materials, waste management, and environmental cleanup and stewardship,” NTIA said.
Had the FCC not already proposed changes to rules for the 450 MHz and other bands in the NPRM, “many would have been ideal candidates for the FCC’s ambitious Delete, Delete, Delete proceeding,” the Enterprise Wireless Association said. The FCC is “entirely correct that Advanced Air Mobility … is expanding rapidly and will rely increasingly on automated technologies used in UAS or in conjunction with crewed aircraft.”
The National Wireless Communications Council supported drone use of the 450 MHz band. “A safe and reliable network is critical for the growth of UAS and realization of its benefits,” the group said: Aura Network Systems, “the presumptive 450 MHz nationwide licensee, has invested heavily in the deployment of a modernized network that can meet demand for UAS communications across the country.”
The Commercial Drone Alliance said that “by providing innovators with the spectrum and regulatory environment they need to flourish, advanced aviation industries will be able to deliver immense benefits all across America.” Spectrum “plays a critical role in enabling innovative uses of technology, including UAS,” it said.