New Coalition Wants to Use 3.7 GHz Band for Fixed Wireless Broadband
The new Broadband Access Coalition is asking the FCC to add a licensed, point-to-multipoint fixed wireless service in the “underutilized” 3.7-4.2 GHz band, mainly used by fixed satellite services (FSS) operators. Mimosa Networks, the Wireless ISP Association and New America’s Open Technology Institute led the filing. Other industry officials predicted a big fight from satellite operators trying to protect their spectrum and potentially from cable operators. Meanwhile, the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology is working on a notice of inquiry looking at mid-band spectrum, like that in the Mimosa petition, wireless layers said. Plan backers said they did initial outreach to the FCC.
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“I think it’s going to be a slog,” a former FCC spectrum official said of the mid-band inquiry. “Therefore, they’re starting with an NOI.” Mid-band spectrum is generally considered spectrum above 3 GHz, above the range now used by carriers, through the high-frequency spectrum targeted by the FCC for 5G.
“The proposed licensing scheme and operating rules will enable gigabit and near-gigabit broadband service in rural and underserved areas, and promotes competition for broadband delivery among various technologies and licensees,” the petition said. The group asked the FCC to look at the proposal under Section 7 of the Communications Act and decide within a year. Cincinnati Bell, the Consumer Federation of America, Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, American Library Association, Rise Broadband, Telrad Networks and Public Knowledge also endorsed the petition through the coalition.
The band supports applications including “crucial GEO fixed satellite services to government, military and commercial customers both in the U.S and around the world,” said Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup. “The band currently is shared with fixed wireless systems, so SIA and its members will examine closely the modifications petitioners seek.” Stroup noted satellite operators provide broadband services across the continental U.S. and more broadband satellite launches are planned. “While we agree with the overall goal of the petitioners to bring more broadband access to those without service, the FCC should make sure it does not negatively impact the existing users,” he said. The FCC is reviewing the petition, a spokesman said. NCTA didn't comment.
In March, Chairman Ajit Pai said the FCC will “breathe life” into Section 7 and determine within a year whether any proposal for a new technology or service is in the public interest (see 1703150020). Pai said the FCC has too often ignored this section. Focus on the band isn’t new. It’s mentioned in the Mobile Now Act and the Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition sought shared use (see 1610180035).
The usual use of the band is for receive-only earth stations, typically used by large cable providers at headends, said Jaime Fink, chief product officer at Mimosa. Satellite operators also report reduced use of the band, Fink told us. Most of the uses are decades old and are being replaced by broadband connections, he said. “Nobody has a good accounting or an audit of what’s being used in the band.” The spectrum is well suited to use in rural areas and short-range uses in suburban areas, he said.
The petition proposes using frequency coordination to protect satellite incumbents. “We’ve been protecting our own very sensitive microwave assets for 20, 30 years using coordination technologies,” Fink said. “We’ll be able to take on the technical arguments.”
“We propose to fully protect current fixed satellite earth stations and to allow them to change or expand service,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Project at New America. “FSS providers should view our sharing proposal as preferable to alternative proposals premised on clearing them off the band entirely.” The FSS band may also be able to accommodate mobile use long term, if FSS is cleared, he said: “But that is not inconsistent with FSS sharing the band now, on a coordinated basis, with fixed wireless point-to-multipoint users.”
It would take as long as 10 years for the band to be suitable for use by wireless carriers, but it could be used by fixed operators much more quickly, Fink said. He noted that Pai encouraged filings like the one by the coalition. Carriers are also seeking more mid-band spectrum as they move toward 5G.
WISPs have tremendous need for mid-band spectrum, said Mark Radabaugh, chairman of WISPA’s FCC Committee. “The existing unlicensed bands are very congested, and our ability to expand service to the millions of rural Americans without residential and business broadband service is becoming more and more difficult.” Radabaugh hopes the satellite industry will welcome the proposal. “We expect the satellite industry will see our proposal as an acceptable option to alternative proposals that might seek to displace them from the band altogether,” he said. “We are optimistic that the FCC will make the right policy choices and grant the petition, for the benefit of rural consumers.”
Meanwhile, Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., sent Pai a letter Wednesday urging the agency to find ways to open more mid-band spectrum for commercial use. “While the U.S. has pushed ahead with efforts to free new spectrum at both low and high frequencies, we lag behind other countries in ‘mid-band spectrum,’" Thune wrote. Thune said he's pleased the FCC appears to be considering a proceeding to identify new spectrum uses in a range of bands.