Howard Buskirk

The FCC should make inventory spectrum available for free to “non-dominant” carriers to promote competition, EchoStar, the parent of Dish Wireless, told the FCC (see 2404090045). “Non-incumbent carriers (more specifically, every carrier other than AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon) should have a ‘right of first refusal’ to all Inventory Spectrum,” EchoStar said. The company also urged the FCC to address the lower 12 GHz band, as advocated by the 12 GHz for 5G Coalition (see 2312270045): “Substantial evidence in the record shows that fixed 5G services can provide broadband to tens of millions of Americans, while fully protecting existing non-geostationary orbit Fixed-Satellite Service and Direct Broadcast Satellite customers.” In another filing this week in docket 24-72, electric utilities said the approaches the FCC is examining don’t provide the certainty they need. “Currently, utilities have very few options for accessing spectrum -- particularly spectrum with the certainty provided by licensed exclusive-use -- and those limited options are increasingly insufficient in bandwidth,” they said. “The ability to access Inventory Spectrum presents one potential solution to the problem of spectrum availability.” The filing was signed by the Edison Electric Institute, the Utilities Technology Council, the Utility Broadband Alliance, FirstEnergy, Southern California Edison and the Southern Co. The Blooston Group of small and rural carriers said the best approach would be site-based licensing, which “would provide a simpler and lower cost way to promote access to spectrum in rural areas, and by entrepreneurs and smaller operators.” Third-party coordinators and licensee-to-licensee coordination “could be relied upon to minimize harmful interference between operators,” Blooston said. NCTA said the Lower 3, 7, Lower 37 and 12.7 GHz bands would be “perfectly situated -- both spectrally and technologically” for licensed-shared and unlicensed spectrum access frameworks. “A coexistence-based approach in each band would allow for efficient and cost-effective spectrum use by a diverse set of users, offer the fastest method of putting this spectrum in the hands of businesses and consumers, and enable federal and non-federal incumbents to continue providing critical services without disruption,” NCTA said.

Commenters disagreed sharply on what mechanisms the FCC should use to make available unassigned licenses in its inventory absent general auction authority. Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 24-72. The FCC sought comment in March on the first anniversary of the expiration of its general auction authority (see 2403070062). Wireless carriers said grants of special temporary authority (STA) are the best alternative. Unlicensed advocates hailed the benefits of dynamic spectrum sharing.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated for a commissioner vote initial rules allowing drone use of the 5030-5091 MHz band (see 2303100028), the commission said Monday. If approved, the order would allow operators to obtain direct frequency assignments in a portion of the band for non-networked operations, the FCC said. The band is one of the five targeted for study in the national spectrum strategy (see 2403120056). “The FCC must ensure that our spectrum rules meet the current -- and future -- spectrum needs of evolving technologies such as uncrewed aircraft systems [UAS], which can be critical to disaster recovery, first responder rescue efforts, and wildfire management,” Rosenworcel said. The proposal relies on dynamic frequency management systems (DFMSs) “to manage and coordinate access to the spectrum and enable its safe and efficient use,” said a news release: “These DFMSs would provide requesting operators with temporary frequency assignments to support UAS control link communications with a level of reliability suitable for operations in controlled airspace and other safety-critical circumstances.” During an interim period, users could obtain early permission to use the spectrum, coordinating with the FAA and filing an online registration form with the commission. Under the spectrum strategy, the FCC, in coordination with NTIA and the FAA, is to “take near-term action to facilitate limited deployment of UAS in the 5030-5091 MHz band, in advance of future study of the band,” the FCC said. Under the strategy, work on future use of the band is supposed to start next March and be completed in March 2027.

Top DOD officials stressed the continuing military importance of the lower 3 GHz band as DOD and NTIA kick off a study of the band that the national spectrum strategy requires (see 2403120056). DOD and other administration officials during a Monday event at CTIA stressed the importance of developing more sophisticated ways of sharing spectrum. The National Spectrum Consortium also sponsored the event.

CTIA told the FCC that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act doesn’t apply to robocalls and robotexts from wireless service providers to their subscribers. Indeed, CTIA added that the FCC has affirmed this "multiple times." However, consumer groups said nothing in the TCPA “justifies special treatment for wireless providers.” Comments were posted Friday in docket 02-278. Commissioners approved an order and Further NPRM in February seeking comment on the wireless provider exemption (see 2402160048).

Industry experts were still parsing the net neutrality rules Friday, looking at language about some hot-button issues such as 5G network slicing. On slicing, the draft doesn't reach conclusions about whether it should be exempt, noting carriers are just in the early stages of adopting slicing (see 2404040064). Slicing lets providers create multiple virtual networks on top of a shared network. How slicing should be treated has been hotly contested (see 2404010032).

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the redacted version of the Emerging Mid-Band Radar Spectrum Sharing Feasibility Assessment demonstrates the importance of the lower 3 GHz band to U.S. defense. DOD released the report Wednesday (see 2404030052). “Modern equipment vital to our nation’s defense, including aircraft and radar, requires access to the entirety of the lower 3 GHz band,” Fischer said. “To protect this country from adversaries like China, the DOD must retain that access. … NTIA can no longer overlook the facts included in this report.” DOD shouldn’t be viewed “only as the pot of spectrum gold at the end of the rainbow,” she said. “It’s very clear the DOD is still upset that it had to vacate the 3.45-3.55 GHz band,” Reconanalytics Roger Entner told us. But the U.S. military uses its systems globally, Entner said, and the 3.3 to 3.8 GHz band was harmonized internationally for 5G. “I am not sure what the U.S. military is going to do when it operates outside the U.S. territory,” he said. Entner noted there could be problems along the borders with Canada and Mexico if those countries use the spectrum for 5G. “Acknowledging the global coexistence of 5G with these defense systems, we underscore the necessity of exploring effective approaches beyond traditional spectrum sharing, including relocation and optimization of federal spectrum use, to make more spectrum available for commercial services,” a spokesperson of 5G Americas wrote in an email. “The report confirms what experts have been saying all along -- dynamic spectrum sharing in the lower 3 GHz band can unleash U.S. innovation and commercial 5G uses without weakening national security, if the right interference mitigation techniques are applied,” said Spectrum for the Future, a pro-sharing group.

The FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee, which will have a special focus on AI, held its first meeting under its new charter Thursday at FCC headquarters. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the FCC eagerly awaits the group’s work on AI and robocalls. The group also heard reports from FCC staff about several consumer issues before the agency, including the affordable connectivity program's demise (see 2404020075). CAC last met in August (see 2208300059).

NTIA appears to be putting the finishing touches on its Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, with a meeting expected as early as June, industry officials told us. But NTIA reportedly hasn’t notified members that they have been selected to participate.

DOD on Wednesday released a redacted version of the Emerging Mid-Band Radar Spectrum Sharing Feasibility Assessment (EMBRSS), which DOD and NTIA forwarded to Congress in September (see 2309280087). The report examines military systems located in lower 3 GHz spectrum, with an eye on potential sharing but not on clearing as sought by CTIA and carriers.