O'Rielly, Unsurprised by 5.9 GHz Opposition, Expects FCC to Act Soon

O’Rielly hasn’t read the 5.9 comments. “I’m not too surprised based on the things I’ve heard about what’s in them” (see 2003090059), he said. “At, some point we’ll digest the entire record.” O’Rielly said the band offers speed advantages over 6 GHz. “It’s something we can do almost immediately,” he said: “It’s the best opportunity for unlicensed.”

In light of the coronavirus, focus on telehealth is increased, but the FCC has a limited role in that area, O’Rielly told the conference. Lots of work on telehealth is being done outside the FCC, O’Rielly said during a discussion with FSF President Randolph May. “It’s going to be a growing area but there’s only so much this commission can do,” O’Rielly said: “We do not have a huge resource of funding.”

Former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who joined the two on stage, said the FCC should do more to promote telehealth. The COVID-19 outbreak is something “no one wished for," but it will likely mean more awareness, she said. “While financially we don’t contribute as much as I would like for us to do … we are responsible for connected devices, greenlighting them,” she said: The FCC needs to act on funding for wireless networks, she said. With other agencies, the commission can do more to advocate for telehealth, she said.

O’Rielly said he doesn’t disagree with Clyburn, in general. But other agencies have “more resources, much more authority, much more influence,” he said.

On net neutrality, Clyburn said neither the approval of rules under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler nor their repeal under Pai had “any real impact on investment.” The rules are “about protecting the consumer,” she said. “To me, it was saying, ‘This is my personally identifiable information, I don’t think you should monetize it without my permission.’” There should be “an agency on the beat” to monitor the market “in real time,” she said.

O’Rielly said he has always been cautious in discussing the effect on investment. “There’s so many variables that go into companies making decisions” and it's hard to “kind of extract one piece,” he said. O’Rielly cautioned about data concluding that any policy created a given number of jobs. “Give the commission permission to do whatever wants, whenever it wants -- that’s kind of what we had with the enforcement structure” in the 2015 rules, he said.

O’Rielly wants changes to media ownership rules. They “are only harming the existing business models and that to me is unacceptable,” he said. The rules from the 1996 Telecom Act “have been stuck in place,” he said. “I’m incredibly depressed about where we are.”

“I haven’t figured out the right formula to convince people that the market has changed considerably,” O’Rielly said. “The current media companies are under assault from a lot of different sources, that they are migrating business models. If you’re an MVPD, more than likely [you] started an over-the-top service for purposes of bypassing … existing regulations or getting to a marketplace that is more attractive.”

FSF Notebook

The White House wants 5G to be deployed “rapidly, using a free-enterprise-drive approach,” Robin Colwell, special assistant to the president for technology, telecommunications and cybersecurity policy-National Economic Council, told the conference. “Strong domestic deployment is an absolute imperative for us, both to support a global-trusted marketplace for equipment and services and to deliver on the promise of 5G across America.” The next “killer app” will be “born right here and rapidly adopted worldwide,” she said. The FCC’s upcoming $9 billion 5G Fund “will help ensure that rural America is not left behind in the evolution to 5G,” she said: “It is impossible to overstate the critical importance of mid-band spectrum to 5G domestic deployment.” The FCC’s February C-band order (see 2002280044) “is a huge step in the right direction,” she said. The U.S. must lead on 5G research and development, Colwell said. “The latest market trends in network architecture, disaggregation, interoperability and virtualization” are “a very important part” of research, she said. “We must also recognize the opportunity inherent in the market trends and seek to accelerate innovation, which is what America does best.” The FCC plans a March 26 forum on 5G virtualized radio access networks (see 2002200058).

Pai highlighted the work his agency is doing to make spectrum available for 5G, modernize regulation and promote wireless infrastructure. “We have been hard at work” and are making “meaningful progress on all three fronts,” he said.