Intel-Led Group Making Push for Broad Mid-Band Spectrum Plan; FCC Inquiry Expected

Fifth-generation wireless will require high-, low- and mid-band spectrum, said Peter Pitsch, Intel executive director-federal relations. “The U.S. has done great on the high and the low,” he said in an interview. “The crucial mid-band is an area where a lot of the companies that we work with think the commission needs to do more.” Korea and Japan are already focused on 3-6 GHz and the EU also focused on mid-band spectrum, Pitsch said. Mid-band spectrum offers wider channels than are available in the low-band, but better propagation characteristics than in higher bands, he said.

The proposal has support of companies interested in both licensed and unlicensed spectrum, Pitsch said. The companies support two proposals, recommending licensed use of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band and unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band, he said. “The coalition has done a good job of identifying two leading bands that the commission should focus on,” he said. “They’re conducive to the uses that we’re proposing.” The proposal also will accommodate incumbent interests, he said. For example, in the 6 GHz band, the coalition proposed allowing fixed wireless to expand operations, but with interference parameters that protect existing links, he said. “The coalition wouldn’t exist if that weren’t the case.”

Mimosa and other groups in the Broadband Access Coalition (BAC) sought a rulemaking on the 3.7 GHz band last month (see 1706210044). O’Rielly made clear in the blog post this was not the approach he favors. The FCC didn't comment.

“The approach being developed by the global mega-companies -- to create another mobile wireless band -- would take many years to implement and is not the best policy option when there are literally millions of American homes and businesses that lack access and competition today,” said Mark Radabaugh, Wireless ISP Association FCC Committee chair, on behalf of BAC. “WISPA is concerned that a new notice of inquiry on mid-band spectrum will delay the availability of spectrum that can be put to use soon, at low cost, for the benefit of thousands of local small businesses and millions of under-served American consumers, without disrupting existing uses.”

Public interest groups agree the FCC should focus on opening more mid-band spectrum for shared use, especially the “underutilized” C-band and at 6 GHz, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. Calabrese said his group has been urging an unlicensed underlay at 6 GHz, “enabling gigabit-fast Wi-Fi to co-exist with band incumbents.” The group endorsed the BAC proposal because it would allow much cheaper deployment of broadband by WISPs and other players compared with the cost of building fiber-to-the-home networks, he said.

The Satellite Industry Association has concerns, though it hasn’t seen the details, said President Tom Stroup. Cable operators heavily use the C-band for distribution of programming to cable headends, with 4,700 registered earth stations and a number of unregistered stations in the band, he said. DOD also uses the band (see 1707110034). “While there’s interest in ways to share [the band] and I saw Commissioner O’Rielly’s blog, everyone needs to focus on the critical infrastructure for which it’s being used,” Stroup said. “It’s heavily used by the program industry and carries critical information for DOD and certain areas of the country.”

The Enterprise Wireless Alliance understands all bands "are on the table for greater use with emerging broadband technologies,” said President Mark Crosby. “Those that intend to capitalize on whatever opportunity the FCC might make available for access to the 3.7 GHz and 6 GHz bands will need to demonstrate that their business plans include realistic interference prediction, mitigation and resolution approaches for protecting incumbent systems. Identifying viable solutions can be particularly challenging when unlicensed use is permitted in a heavily utilized microwave band such as 6 GHz.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who wrapped up a series of meetings on broadband in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia Wednesday, is stressing the importance of addressing broadband in rural areas. Pai wrote a column for the Herald-Mail, a western Maryland newspaper. “Competition fuels innovation and investment and benefits consumers,” he said. “This is especially true in rural areas. We need to be creative here -- and we have been.”

DOD could object to reallocation of C-band spectrum for terrestrial use that could include mobile and broadband, said Stroup Tuesday, as SIA released its annual state of the satellite industry report. O'Rielly blogged with support Monday for alternative uses of the “underutilized” 3.7-4.2 GHz band mainly used by fixed satellite services operators. DOD didn't comment. The call for reallocating C-band downlinks and uplinks for licensed mobile communications and unlicensed use shows a lack of understanding about how the band currently is used, Stroup said, saying it's used heavily for cable TV distribution. He said increased DOD use of commercial satcom is being done in the name of resiliency, with the Navy already distributing some traffic through a number of commercial C-band satellite systems.

Stroup is disappointed that use of the C-band is challenged because the growing number of satellite constellations to be launched will drive up satellite industry demand for the Ka-, Ku- and V-bands. Pricing pressure on satcom operators providing transponder leasing isn't going away as additional capacity is being put into orbit, Stroup told us, echoing what insiders said in interviews. But he said the launch of high-throughput broadband satellites should lead to increased subscriber numbers because many operators have been capacity-constrained.