FCC Pushes Forward on Use of 3.5 GHz Band for Small Cells, Sharing
The FCC approved a further NPRM on sharing in the 3.5 GHz band, with both Republican commissioners complaining that the exclusion zones proposed are much too big for the band to reach its potential as a laboratory for spectrum sharing. The notice largely proposes the same exclusion zones as the original rulemaking proposal from 2012, as was expected (CD April 23 p22). Use of the spectrum would be restricted inside the zones to protect government incumbents.
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"I worry that the proposed exclusion zones are too large to attract adequate interest and investment in this band,” said Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. “Despite evidence in the record showing that low-power small cell systems will not require such large exclusion zones, there has been no progress in reducing their size, even for this limited purpose.” O'Rielly pointed to a map showing big chunks of the U.S. covered by the exclusion zones. The FNPRM “walls off the same 60 percent” of U.S. residents “as introduced by NTIA in 2010 and put forth in the commission’s original notice in December 2012,” he said.
Commissioner Ajit Pai said he could only concur on the item. “Unfortunately, much of this item is ‘déjà vu all over again’ as Yogi Berra once put it, and represents a disappointing lack of progress,” he said. “Technical evidence [shows] that the 2010 exclusion zones can be dramatically reduced while still protecting incumbent federal users -- evidence we asked parties to submit. In fact, the commission refuses even to seek comment on that analysis and simply proposes to codify the 2010 exclusion zones. Instead of going where the facts take us, the commission double downs on where they don’t."
The current exclusion zones would prevent use of the band in most areas on the East and West coasts, O'Rielly said in an interview. “Good or bad, that’s where people live and it questions whether we can make a go of it,” he said. “I want to see us reduce those zones going forward. ... Before we get to final order, I want to see it fixed.”
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the exclusion zone issue has received lots of attention at the commission. “I disagree that it wasn’t a very well developed part of the NPRM,” Wheeler told reporters after the meeting. “How in the world could you ever get that impression? ... This is spectrum sharing, OK? Sharing is challenging.” The FCC could have delayed the proceeding as various issues are worked out, he said. “Or we could say, ‘Hey look, we're moving, it’s time to step up, let’s get this resolved.’ ... Things don’t happen without impetus. We created the impetus.”
"We have been very conscious of the exclusion zones and the potential for small cells to reduce the exclusion zones,” said John Leibovitz, deputy Wireless Bureau chief. But he said key government systems use the spectrum “so we have to get the analysis right.” Some parties have submitted data on exclusion zones, but they have been mostly “one-sided, sort of outside-in analysis from industry,” he said. “There’s new data that we expect to be coming in soon.” Leibovitz said the FCC is offering a much more developed proposal than the first NPRM in 2012 (CD July 23/12 p1). “There’s 20 pages of rule text, very detailed,” he said. “We propose a new rule, Part 96.”
The proposal covers 3550-3650 MHz, with a supplemental proposal for 3650-3700 MHz (CD April 3 p1). The notice “proposes a three-tiered access and sharing model comprised of federal and non-federal incumbents, priority access licensees, and general authorized access users,” said a news release (http://bit.ly/1hkyeHW). “Together, the proposals seek to promote flexibility and innovation by leveraging advancements in technology to facilitate sharing between different users and uses, including incumbent government uses."
"If you want to get a glimpse into the future of spectrum policy, take a look at the 3.5 GHz band,” said Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “With our work on the 3.5 GHz band, we demonstrate that we are leaving behind the tired notion that we face a choice between licensed and unlicensed airwaves. This kind of division is a simplistic relic from the spectrum past. We cannot let it haunt us in the future. Because there is no doubt that good spectrum policy requires both licensed and unlicensed services."
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said work on the band shows that regulation and innovation go together. “It clearly shows the federal government understands that technological advances can enable us to depart from traditional regulatory models and adopt new approaches, with lower administrative costs, which could spur even greater innovation from incumbent carriers, and new entrants,” she said.