Small and regional carriers are taking different approaches to 5G and fixed wireless, said Eric Boudriau, Ericsson North America head-customer unit regional carriers, at the Competitive Carriers Association conference Wednesday. “Everybody starts from a different position,” he said. Fixed wireless is “really, really accelerating” in the U.S. and internationally, he said. Other executives stressed the importance of addressing federal infrastructure rules to better fund wireless. The discussion was streamed live from Portland, Oregon.
Wireless Spectrum Auctions
The FCC manages and licenses the electromagnetic spectrum used by wireless, broadcast, satellite and other telecommunications services for government and commercial users. This activity includes organizing specific telecommunications modes to only use specific frequencies and maintaining the licensing systems for each frequency such that communications services and devices using different bands receive as little interference as possible.
What are spectrum auctions?
The FCC will periodically hold auctions of unused or newly available spectrum frequencies, in which potential licensees can bid to acquire the rights to use a specific frequency for a specific purpose. As an example, over the last few years the U.S. government has conducted periodic auctions of different GHz bands to support the growth of 5G services.
A new CTIA-funded study by Accenture said the U.S. wireless industry has access to only 5% of lower mid-band spectrum, while unlicensed spectrum users have access to seven times as much, government users 12 times. The study proposes three bands for licensed use. The 3.1-3.45 GHz band “offers reliable coverage and adequate range of coverage, making it ideal for 5G data traffic,” the study said: “This band is adjacent to the recently auctioned 3.45 GHz band, which would help drive lower costs for device manufacturers when developing products for a wider contiguous band,” the study said. The 4.4-4.94 GHz band “has been allocated to wireless carriers in many other nations, meaning a similar allocation in the U.S. would support international harmonization efforts yielding cost benefits,” Accenture advised: “The 7 to 8.4 GHz range is a significant block of higher frequency contiguous spectrum. The capacity characteristics of this range make it ideal for serving densely populated areas such as urban centers, where traffic requirements are greater.”
Some industry officials say the national spectrum strategy the Biden administration is expected to release will have the most value if the administration lays out with more granularity mid-band spectrum that is targeted for 5G, and eventually 6G. The plan was the focus of a day-long NTIA forum Sept. 19 (see 2209190061). Experts agreed it will likely take six months or longer to put a strategy together.
Congress “must find common ground” on extending the FCC’s spectrum auction authority past its current Sept. 30 expiration, even if it’s for a short period, former FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly said Thursday in an InsideSources opinion piece. “To do otherwise would set a horrible precedent, setting back wireless communications policy at precisely the wrong moment.” Lawmakers appear to be nearing a deal to temporarily renew the FCC’s authority through Dec. 16 as part of a pending continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations (see 2209210076). The Senate plans an initial vote at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to CR shell bill HR-6833 (see 2209220087). “Extending auction authority must have balanced expectations and a modicum of innate responsibility,” O’Rielly said: “To get more commercial wireless spectrum into the market, all affected parties must come to the table ready to deal.” Getting “an extended commercial spectrum pipeline, which is critical, will likely take longer than a few months to hammer out,” he said: “Experience tells us that it will be a long process that could take the better part of a year and only occurs with the inclusion of a firm deadline in law and corresponding watchful eyes by the respective congressional telecom leaders.”
Former FCC commissioners Harold Furchtgott-Roth, Robert McDowell and Mike O’Rielly questioned during a Hudson Institute event Wednesday the pending move by FCC Chairwoman to take on the 13 GHz band in a pending notice of inquiry in light of other bands waiting for action (see 2209200071). They also spoke of concerns with federal infrastructure spending and on the reauthorization of FCC auction authority (see 2209210076). All three do work for Hudson.
Telecom-focused lawmakers are hopeful they will be able to reach a final deal in the coming days to include a short-term extension of the FCC’s expiring spectrum auction authority in a potential continuing resolution to extend federal appropriations past Sept. 30 (see 2209090053). Talks Wednesday appeared to be strongly coalescing around a stopgap reauthorization through Dec. 16 -- in line with the likely expiration of the overall CR -- but there’s been no final deal, lawmakers and lobbyists told us. Lawmakers believe the temporary renewal will give them more breathing room to reach a deal on a broader spectrum legislative package during the lame-duck session (see 2208090001).
Top government speakers promised on Monday the U.S. government is moving forward on a long-awaited national spectrum strategy. But a top DOD official at NTIA’s Spectrum Policy Symposium warned federal users also have strong continuing needs, and clearing 3.1-3.45 GHz, a top candidate band for 5G, would be prohibitively expensive.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif., led filing Thursday of the Digital Equity Foundation Act to create a nonprofit foundation to disburse funding for digital equity, inclusion and literacy projects and support related activities. The measure mirrors parts of an earlier Airwaves for Equity proposal to endow a digital equity foundation using future FCC spectrum auction revenue (see 2202230058) but doesn’t mention a specific funding source. The foundation would “supplement, but not supplant,” existing NTIA and FCC connectivity funding programs, including ones Congress created via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Lujan’s office cited the success of other congressionally established nonprofits, saying they were a way of leveraging public-private partnerships. “Critically, this legislation also ensures” the decision-makers who created the nonprofit “will consist of experts that reflect the diverse communities that are in need of these investments, who will work closely with federal agencies to support and uplift digital equity-focused programs,” Lujan said. “This legislation will jumpstart us down the road to lasting digital equity and inclusion nationwide,” Matsui said. Without “sustained investments in digital adoption and inclusion efforts at the community level, the huge new investments in broadband infrastructure and affordability won’t close the digital divide,” said New America’s Open Technology Institute Wireless Future Project Director Michael Calabrese: “A Digital Equity Foundation dedicated to this work and, if possible, funded by future spectrum auctions, will provide a sustainable way to address the broadband adoption side of the digital divide.” Lujan’s office cited support from 10 other public interest groups, including the American Library Association, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Public Knowledge and the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition.
Ahead of an NTIA spectrum policy symposium Monday, the Aspen Institute released a paper Thursday urging the U.S. government to “issue a 10-year plan with clear national goals to release more spectrum into the commercial marketplace.” The paper follows a May meeting at the institute, which included FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson and is seen as a possible precursor to a long-awaited strategy (see 2208150035). “The National Spectrum Strategy should make a clear statement of national spectrum goals -- agreed to by the FCC and the Administration -- that sets a roadmap for rulemaking and administrative actions over the next decade,” the paper said: “Clear, quantifiable goals provide a lodestar for whole-of-government action. They also help various stakeholders plan for the future and can influence technology development and resource allocation by private actors.” The strategy should plan for the allocation of three of four bands, below 15 GHz, each offering approximately 400 MHz of bandwidth, Aspen said: “Realizing this goal would enable multiple network operators to use 400 MHz channels in lower, better propagating bands as a foundation for multi-gigabit 6G.” The paper proposed making the highest bands, above 95 GHz, unlicensed by default. “Although the FCC recently authorized use of bands above 95 GHz, technology is still in early stages and the band is only sparsely used,” the paper said. “Given the inherent limited and highly directional signal propagation at these frequencies along with the super abundance of bandwidth, any concerns raised regarding interference in these bands should take a back seat to maximizing spectrum access and innovation.” Aspen suggested the White House “could set out the country’s overall spectrum goals through an Executive Order.” The group supports revising congressional budgeting to be “spectrum policy neutral.” Current scoring rules “consider inflows of auction revenues but do not account for economic benefits of other spectrum authorization approaches,’ Aspen said. “As a result, spectrum auction directives are often legislated as a ‘pay for’ to offset some Congressional spending priority. Congress should consider revising the rules to level the legislative playing field for other ways of making spectrum available into the commercial market, such as unlicensed or shared uses.” CTIA appreciates "the report’s focus on ensuring a balanced spectrum policy and its recognition of the need for additional licensed spectrum to meet growing demand and support the development of next-generation wireless networks,” a spokesperson emailed. “We must not lose focus on the pressing need for a pipeline of exclusive-use, licensed commercial spectrum, especially mid-band spectrum, in order to maintain America’s leadership of the emerging 5G economy.”
Steve Berry, who is leaving the Competitive Carriers Association at the end of the year (see 2209130072) after 13 years as president, told reporters a top priority for the rest of the year is getting Congress to fully fund the rip and replace program needed to remove Chinese gear from small carrier networks (see 2209090053). The program faces a $3.08 billion shortfall. “We need to get that done, we need to secure our networks,” he said: “It was a decision made by Congress. Now we’ve got to make sure that they actually pay for it.”