FCC Nearing Decision on C Band, Pai Says
Chairman Ajit Pai is “optimistic” the FCC “will have results to show” on the C band in the fall, he told a 5G workshop at the Congreso Latinoamericano De Telecomunicaciones Thursday. Last week, the agency got more comments on the…
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C band (see 1907050035). The FCC also continues its work on making the 3.1-3.55 GHz band available for commercial use. Pai defended a draft order on the educational broadband service band, set for a vote Wednesday (see 1907050034). EBS rules “date back decades,” Pai said: “At that time, it was envisioned that this spectrum would be used for educational TV. But today, this band is dramatically underused, with much of this spectrum lying fallow. That’s unacceptable.” Pai also stressed the importance of 5G security. “5G will affect our militaries, our industries, our critical infrastructure, and much more,” he said: “The procurement and deployment decisions made now will have a generational impact on our security, economy, and society.” The world can’t make “risky choices and just hope for the best,” he said: “We must see clearly the threats to the security of our networks and act to address them. And the more that the United States and our regional allies can work together and make security decisions based on shared principles, the safer that our 5G networks will be.” Pai said he strongly supports the principles approved in May by the Prague 5G Security Conference (see 1905030052). In another speech at a universal service workshop at the congress, Pai said the FCC is rejiggering the USF program to make it more effective through reverse auctions. Pai said he has seen firsthand how well that approach works. An auction last year provided $1.5 billion to connect more than 713,000 unserved homes and businesses nationwide, saving $3.5 billion from estimated costs of those connections, he said. “Later this year, we will start the process of setting up a $20.4 billion broadband expansion program called the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund,” Pai said: “Applying lessons learned from the recent reverse auction, this program will spur the deployment of high-speed broadband networks across more of rural America over the next decade.” Other work continues, he said: “We’ve increased subsidies for small, rural carriers, while giving them more aggressive buildout requirements. We’ve increased the budget for our rural healthcare program and are designing a connected care pilot program to realize the potential of telehealth solutions outside the hospital.” Commissioners will also vote Wednesday on an NPRM for a three-year, $100 million USF telehealth pilot program (see 1906180053).