Unanimous FCC Approves Upper C-Band Auction Notice
The FCC on Thursday approved 3-0 an NPRM, with tweaks, that moves the agency closer to an auction of upper C-band spectrum, in what would be the first major sale since the 3.45 GHz auction, which ended in 2022. Among the changes were questions on a window to make spectrum available to tribes (see 2511170055) and on access to unused or unassigned spectrum and how to incentivize buildout.
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Asked about other bands for 5G and 6G, Chairman Brendan Carr told reporters that the FCC auction staff is almost singularly focused on the C band. Wireless Bureau Chief Joel Taubenblatt said the NPRM also saw a few changes in response to ex parte filings. The reconciliation package, signed into law last summer, requires that the government provide a spectrum pipeline, starting with at least 100 MHz in the upper C band (see 2507070045).
Commissioner Anna Gomez thanked Carr for adding questions that she had proposed, including those on a tribal window. “I believe that a tribal licensing window can occur concurrently with an auction … because the tools that we would utilize to facilitate it have already been created,” she said. The window would involve only “a discrete number of licenses” that would become available to an “identified set of tribal nations.”
Absent a licensing window, tribal areas become part of a larger service area “and often are the last areas to see service, if at all,” Gomez added.
Completing a rulemaking and finishing an auction in less than two years, as required by law, “would be a tall order under the best of circumstances,” Carr said. In this case, “the task is made even harder by the need to accommodate satellite users … and certain radio altimeters onboard aircraft in the adjacent band.” However, the FCC’s staff is up to the challenge, he said. “Today’s item was finished at breakneck speed -- only a few months after Congress restored our auction authority.”
Commissioner Olivia Trusty said the NPRM is a step toward ensuring that FCC spectrum policies “meet the moment.” The C band is “one of the last major midband spectrum opportunities” to address the needs of next-generation services. The proceeding “builds squarely on the success” of the first C-band auction, she added. “Our collective goal must be to unlock new value in this band while ensuring continuity of service and safeguarding the public interest."
“On spectrum, there’s a lot that we have going on,” Carr told reporters, with the FCC “taking a hard look” at secondary market transactions. On auctions, “our main focus is the C band,” since “we’re under the clock” to hold an auction. The proposed C-band auction is requiring a huge amount of time for his office and the rest of the agency's staff, he said. “We’re dealing directly” with the FAA, NTIA and National Economic Council. “C band is the thing that’s basically taking up all the time at the moment and that’s what the focus is on."
CTIA CEO Ajit Pai praised the FCC's action. “Access to more mid-band spectrum is essential to expanding network capacity, fueling groundbreaking technologies like AI, and accelerating the deployment of next-generation services for consumers and businesses.”
“NATE strongly applauds the Commission for moving swiftly to expand access to critical mid-band spectrum in the Upper C-band,” said President Todd Schlekeway in an emailed statement. “This proceeding represents another major step toward restoring American leadership in next-generation wireless networks.”
ACA Connects, meanwhile, urged caution. As it moves forward on an auction, “the FCC must take steps to ensure small cable providers can continue to provide video service without loss of quality or reliability and are compensated for all reasonable transition expense,” said President Grant Spellmeyer.