The FCC got pushback on a proposal to allow license sizes larger than counties in the priority access licenses that will be sold to provide more protected use of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. Even larger carriers consider the plan flawed and sought changes. With a C-band auction looming, questions emerged on how likely carriers are to pursue the PALs during next June’s auction (see 1910170045). Many filings talked about the impact on rural areas and bidders.
FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly appears to have the support of several top Republicans to remain for another term, a factor officials told us makes him strongly favored for renomination. One stumbling block appears to be the timeline for President Donald Trump to re-up him amid a souring confirmations atmosphere on Capitol Hill caused by the House impeachment inquiry and 2020 presidential campaign. O'Rielly's term expired June 30 (see 1412170031). He can remain until this Congress ends at the beginning of 2021.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai indicated that the 2.5 GHz auction will follow on the heels of the 3.5 GHz auction, slated to start in June. “With almost 200 megahertz, this is the largest contiguous band of terrestrial, flexible use spectrum below 3 GHz in the United States,” Pai told the Citizens Broadband Radio Service Alliance Wednesday. Given the timetable in a recent Office of Economics and Analytics auction report (see 1909300064), that could put the start of the 2.5 GHz before the end of the CBRS sale and Sept. 30. Work continues on CBRS, Pai said. “We can’t let up, because our work is not done.” Spectrum access system administrators “need to report back to us to let us know that the dynamic sharing is working without any interference problems, so we’ll be monitoring that closely,” he said: “If the sharing regime works as we expect, we can continue to fine tune the system, adjusting protection zones and power levels.” An order approved by commissioners in July rewriting rules for the band 2.5 GHz educational broadband service band, including an eventual auction (see 1907100054), is partly effective Nov. 25, with other parts 184 days after publication, says Friday's Federal Register.
Many questions remain about the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band and how many carriers will bid in June’s auction of priority access licenses, industry officials said. FCC officials remain optimistic. One wild card is the regulator's looking at a private C-band auction before the PALs auction, which could siphon interest in the shared band (see 1910100052).
Wells Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche sees industry enthusiasm about the citizens broadband radio service, after the firm held a conference on the topic Tuesday. “Enthusiasm for the spectrum and its multifaceted use cases was shared by many participants representing different layers of the ecosystem,” the analyst told investors Wednesday. “We believe we are in the early innings in learning how CBRS spectrum and shared use deployment model will revolutionize wireless network deployments in the future. As one of the few mid-band spectrum [bands] now available for commercial use, CBRS has garnered the attention of service providers (i.e.: wireless and cable) but also new players like technology companies and enterprises for their own specific use cases.”
Telecom sector supply chain security and spectrum legislation drew enthusiastic support from House Communications Subcommittee members and witnesses during a Friday hearing, as expected (see 1909260056). They gave no clear guidance during on how they want to proceed on the seven measures the panel examined. Lawmakers focused much of their attention on the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4459) and the Studying How to Harness Airwave Resources Efficiently Act (HR-4462), though they also showed interest in other measures.
The FCC apparently missed a deadline to notify NTIA 18 months before the start of the 3.5 GHz auction that an auction would be scheduled. Commissioners approved a public notice on bidding procedures for the citizens broadband radio service auction, to start June 25, at their meeting Thursday. But the FCC denied the band is even subject to Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act (CSEA) requirements. Earlier this year, the Commerce Department and FCC engaged in a battle over 24 GHz band. (see 1908090070).
FCC members approved 5-0 a public notice Thursday seeking comment on an auction of priority access licenses (PALs), the licensed part of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. As expected, Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks raised concerns (see 1909230056) but voted to approve after each got changes to the notice. The auction is to start June 25.
Before the FCC starts issuing funds from its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), it needs to have its improved broadband mapping up and running, said Consolidated Communications CEO Bob Udell Monday in a taping for C-SPAN's The Communicators. Udell, who's also USTelecom chairman, said the shapefiles approach the agency adopted in August (see 1908010007) "is critical" to the next allocation of federal funding. He said Consolidated is intent on expanding its fiber network, and cell towers for 5G will drive some of that. The U.S. is at an "inflection point," akin to when the Rural Electrification Act was adopted, that could advance deployment through public and private investment, he said. Consolidated is among the telecom signatories to an agreement with state attorneys general on commitments to fight illegal robocalls (see 1908220060), and Udell said principles in that agreement are being used to guide its suppliers on criteria to implement secure handling of asserted information using tokens and secure telephone identity revisited caller authentication technology. He said trials of that tech are underway and rollout should be done in 2020. With Consolidated largely serving rural markets, he said 5G is less a competitive threat than an opportunity to provide services to wireless operators. Mobile service isn't a strategy for Consolidated in the foreseeable future like it is for Comcast, Charter and Altice, he said, but the company's considering bidding in the citizens broadband radio service spectrum auction, with that spectrum potentially being useful for private LTE networks to serve, for example, an office park lacking good cell coverage. He said Consolidated doesn't use Huawei equipment. He said it "thwart[s] attacks daily. It's a common factor when you operate communications infrastructure." Udell advocated a national privacy rules framework instead of a piecemeal approach state by state.
A proposed public notice on the 3.5 GHz auction could see questions at the commissioners’ meeting Thursday. Several parties have been at the FCC asking for changes and Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks are still reviewing their votes and have questions about how the auction will work in practice, industry and FCC officials said. The most controversial aspect is that the notice would allow bidding in some cases on relatively large cellular market area (CMA) licenses.