WTA said it supports a request last year by the Wireless ISP Association and the Utilities Technology Council that the FCC waive requirements that 3650-3700 MHz licensees complete the transition to Part 96 citizens broadband radio service rules by April 17 (see 1812040002). “WTA did not participate during the earlier stages of this proceeding, but has recently become aware that some of its members have been using the … band to provide fixed wireless broadband service to significant numbers of their rural customers and that these members are not going to be able to conform their operations to the Part 96 CBRS rules” by the deadline, said a filing in docket 18-353, posted Tuesday.
The FCC may have to backtrack on proposed rules for the citizens broadband radio service band after getting essentially no support in the record for cellular market area-level bidding in June’s auction of priority access licenses (PALs). Only T-Mobile backed CMA-level bidding but not using the FCC-proposed scheme (see 1911130056). Commissioners approved a notice in September that proposes to allow bidding on a CMA-level basis, rather than just by counties, in the top 172 CMAs. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks voted for the notice, though with reservations on CMA-level bidding (see 1909260040).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will circulate an order seeking approval of a public auction of 280 MHz of C-band spectrum in 2020, for a vote early in the new year, FCC officials said Monday. The order won't be on the agenda for the Dec. 12 commissioners’ meeting. The decision is considered a huge loss for the C-Band Alliance, which pressed for a private auction (see 1911150046). President Donald Trump called Pai Oct. 30 to find out more about the C band but didn’t express a view the FCC should hold a public auction, FCC officials said. Pai unveiled the decision in a letter Monday to leaders in Congress.
Virtually every commenter opposes cellular market area-level bidding in next June’s auction of priority access licenses in the citizens broadband radio service band (see 1910290046), Verizon told the FCC on bidding rules. Replies were posted through Wednesday in docket 19-244. “CMA-level bidding is not package bidding and would reduce bidder flexibility, while adding unnecessary complexity to an already-complex auction,” Verizon said. Verizon identifies T-Mobile as the lone CMA bid supporter. T-Mobile fired back, urging instead that the FCC allow just CMA-level bidding in the top 172 markets incorporating multiple counties and only county-level bidding in remaining areas. “That approach would: (1) eliminate the complexity of allowing both CMA-level and county-level bidding in the same area; and (2) balance concerns that CMA-level bidding may inhibit some bidders from securing licenses against the potential for interference and need for coordination the Commission identified when it decided to consider package bidding,” T-Mobile said. There's “overwhelming opposition” to CMA-level bidding, so drop that and package bidding, said the Rural Wireless Association. RWA noted 126 of the 663 counties in the 172 markets are rural “based on the Commission’s own definition.” CMA-level bidding “would produce unintended, detrimental consequences that would jeopardize the auction’s success,” NCTA said. CMA bidding “adds a bewildering level of complexity to the auction process that, by itself, eliminates any realistic possibility of auction success for smaller commercial and business enterprise entities,” the Enterprise Wireless Alliance filed: “It would undo the very compromise that the Commission achieved.” A broad group opposes CMA-level bidding “largely because the proposal will exclude all but the largest mobile wireless carriers from having access to PAL-protected spectrum wherever CMA-level bidding applies,” said the Industrial IoT Coalition.
Federated Wireless demonstrated a fully functional automated frequency coordinator (AFC) prototype for unlicensed services in the citizens broadband radio service band "while ensuring protection of existing services,” said Chief Technology Officer Kurt Schaubach and others in FCC meetings. An AFC can “enable new unlicensed services in the 6 GHz band as quickly as possible.” Federated discussed “potential coexistence issues at the C-Band/CBRS band edge, and the opportunity to leverage automated spectrum access tools to accelerate deployment of new terrestrial broadband services in the C-Band,” said a filing in docket 17-258, posted Friday. Federated met aides to Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel and Wireless Bureau and the Office of Engineering and Technology staff, it reported. "Industry has coalesced around the need for an AFC for a wide variety of use cases.”
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.”