Hawaii, NCAI Petition FCC on 2.5 GHz Tribal Priority Window Eligibility
The Hawaiian Broadband Initiative and National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) petitioned the FCC on priority filing window eligibility rules for tribes seeking 2.5 GHz spectrum licenses. In a docket 18-120 posting Tuesday, the Hawaii agency said native Hawaiians not…
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being listed as an eligible party for window participation wasn't raised with the agency before its October order because no reasonable party would have anticipated the FCC's saying Hawaiian homelands are eligible for the window but omit native Hawaiians from the list of eligible applicants to participate. Gov. David Ige (D) (see here) and state Office of Hawaiian Affairs (see 1911250040) also raised eligibility red flags. NCAI said the FCC should reconsider limiting off-reservation lands including tribal trust lands from the eligibility window because that limit will especially affect rural tribal nations without reservations or that have service populations located in noncontiguous parcels of off-reservation trust land. It said the agency should reconsider its requirement that an area be "rural" to qualify for the tribal priority window. The commission didn't comment.