While an FCC proposal is still taking shape, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is telling industry officials he wants at least 300 MHz of C-band spectrum allocated for 5G. Pai also appears to be leaning toward an FCC auction rather than a private sale to allocate the licenses, industry officials said. The C-Band Alliance plan for clearing the band has dominated discussions. Last week, the FCC took reply comments on alternate proposals (see 1908150042). Again, comments were sharply divided. Pai said last month the FCC should have “results to show” on the C band in the fall (see 1907050024). The FCC and CBA didn't comment.
There's “widespread agreement” mid-band spectrum is needed for 5G and the C-Band Alliance’s plan to make available only 180 MHz is “inadequate to meet those requirements and promote a competitive environment,” T-Mobile representatives, accompanied by auction economists, told the FCC. Most also want an FCC-run auction, it said. “Bidders know and understand the rules, policies, and practices the Commission has developed over more than twenty years of conducting spectrum auctions,” T-Mobile said: “These rules, policies, and practices are not easily replicated and offer full transparency, including for any payment terms.” The carrier sees growing support for clearing the band “by deployment of alternative transmission mechanisms, such as fiber.” The reps met staff from the Wireless and International bureaus and offices of Economics and Analytics; Engineering and Technology; and General Counsel. The CBA didn’t comment on the filing posted Monday in docket 18-122. “Our market-based process with the … auction design offers the quickest way to free up C-band spectrum for wireless 5G while protecting a content distribution system that serves nearly 120 million American households every day,” a CBA spokesperson emailed: The auction design “developed by the world's leading auction design experts is fast, efficient, fair, effective and transparent, and, combined with FCC oversight, serves the public interest.” America's Communications Association said it answered staff questions on a proposal made with the Competitive Carriers Association and Charter Communications. “The transition to fiber can be accomplished within eighteen months in urban areas (Stage 1), within three years in the majority of the remaining areas (Stage 2), and within five years for a few hard-to-reach areas (Stage 3),” ACA estimated. “The staggering of the transition among different types of areas means that, for a limited period of time, urban areas where the lower 370 MHz of the band has been cleared will neighbor areas where that spectrum is still used to provide satellite service to earth stations.” The Wireless ISP Association said it filed a recent study that “shows that current C-band earth stations are vastly overprotected, and right-sizing those protections can result in gigabit fixed broadband services for more than 80 million Americans, particularly in underserved communities.” The study was co-sponsored by WISPA, Google and Microsoft. An FCC decision is expected by the end of the year (see 1907090064).
5G rollout and a fully digital single market are top priorities for Europe's tech sector as the European Commission and Parliament begin a new five-year term, stakeholders said in interviews and statements. Other items on their wish-lists include fair competition rules and a push for faster deployment of fiber networks. The new EU term could also bring a bruising battle over internet intermediary liability.
The U.S. is stuck in the starting blocks of the 5G race as it awaits an FCC decision on how to free up C-band spectrum, former Chairman Tom Wheeler blogged Friday for the Brookings Institution. He said European nations over the past year have done 5G spectrum auctions, but a C-band decision looks to come late this year. He said substantial time has been spent on debates about various potential auction processes, but the technical specifics of what to auction in terms of such issues as power levels, out-of-band emission levels and geographic and spectrum license sizes are far more difficult. "We are behind where we would have been if the FCC had stepped up and done their public interest job in the first place," he said. The agency didn't comment.
Wireless ISPs need more and better spectrum to succeed, WISP Association officials said in a briefing for Capitol Hill staffers Wednesday. WISPA officials are especially hopeful about the 2.5 GHz band, a likely target of the FCC at its July 10 meeting.
Bidirectional sharing, a top Pentagon policy priority, got some support in comments on an FCC public notice, launched in response to a requirement of Ray Baum's Act (see 1905010205). DOD sees bidirectional sharing as important to its future as it gives up more spectrum (see 1806250049). The department's concept is that under bidirectional sharing, federal agencies could use spectrum in remote areas that otherwise is going unused. Carriers and other wireless groups say any such sharing must be voluntary. Comments were due Friday in docket 19-128 and posted through Monday.
Bidding has concluded in Auction 102, the FCC’s sale of 24 GHz spectrum for 5G, said an FCC release Tuesday. Along with Auction 101 -- the 28 GHz auction completed in January -- the FCC “has now completed its first set of high-band airwaves auctions to make spectrum available for 5G wireless, Internet of Things, and other advanced spectrum-based services,” the announcement said. “The successful conclusion of our nation’s first two high-band flexible, mobile-use spectrum auctions is a critical step,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in the release. Bidding in Auction 102 ended at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and raised more than $2 billion in gross bids, it said, adding that bidders won 2,904 of the 2,909 licenses on offer. Auction 101 raised $702.6 million in gross bids with bidders winning 2,965 of the 3,072 licenses offered. A public notice with detailed results for Auction 102 will be available “in a few days” the release said. Auction 101’s results have remained nonpublic but a PN on them will also be released “soon,” the announcement said. Auction 103, which involves spectrum from the upper 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz bands, will start Dec. 10.
Officials in President Donald Trump's administration and the FCC spoke optimistically about the U.S. path forward on rural broadband and spectrum policy during a Monday NTCA event, citing 2018 successes and actions slated for this year. The FCC's plans to follow up the USF Connect America Fund with a new $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (see 1904120065) received some attention at the event, but more focus was on upcoming spectrum auctions and ways to increase rural broadband deployments.
That the US is losing on 5G “just is not true,” said Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, at a CTIA 5G summit Thursday. “Basically, we’re winning." Kudlow said he met with President Donald Trump about 5G Wednesday. CTIA President Meredith Baker said the C band (see 1904040076) offers the best opportunity for making more mid-band spectrum available.
Though it's not clear how much midband spectrum 5G will require, the U.S. is clearly lagging compared with midband availability in other nations, said CTIA President Meredith Baker at a Media Institute event Wednesday. When we asked her what's needed at minimum, she said the possibility of 180 MHz from the C band, as proposed by the C-Band Alliance (CBA), and 70 MHz from the 3.5 GHz band would still leave the U.S. 50 MHz shy of the global average of what other nations have dedicated to 5G.