Mid-Band Spectrum Comments Show Strong Disagreements Among Sectors
Tech companies and Wi-Fi advocates pressed the FCC to open the entire 6 GHz band for unlicensed use, saying it's a key band for the future of Wi-Fi. Wireless carriers were more focused on the 3.7-4.2 GHz band and said the need for more spectrum is real. But public safety groups raised concerns in docket 17-183 about the 6 GHz band (see 1710020058). Commissioners approved a notice of inquiry in August (see 1708030052) and the next logical step would be an NPRM proposing bands for reallocation, industry officials said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
“Our diverse companies -- spanning the consumer equipment, internet media, software, cloud services, semiconductor, enterprise and service provider broadband, and rural connectivity industries -- all agree that Part 15 access to the 5925-7125 MHz band is essential to meeting demand for the next generation of wireless broadband services,” said the tech industry filing. “By opening this entire band to unlicensed radio local access network operations, the Commission will allow us to bring consumers faster service, lower latency, and more pervasive coverage.” The filing was signed by Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Cypress Semiconductor, Dell, Facebook, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Sony Electronics, the Wireless ISP Association and others.
The 3.7-4.2 GHz band could provide licensed spectrum badly needed by the wireless industry, CTIA said. “Across the globe, mid-band spectrum is increasingly viewed as a key component to unlocking the economic and societal benefits of 5G connectivity." But the U.S. lags behind much of the world in making mid-band spectrum available, the group said. T-Mobile supports more use of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band but also asked the agency to protect 6 GHz incumbents.
The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance encouraged the FCC to look to a number of bands for wireless broadband, including 3.7-4.2 and 6 GHz. "This effort comes at a fortuitous time, because state-of-the-art spectrum sharing techniques stand ready to facilitate more efficient use of these bands,” DSA commented. “In recent years, the Commission has used sharing to extract previously untapped value from underused bands.”
Others said the FCC must do all it can to ensure increased use of the 6 GHz band doesn’t harm fixed satellite operations. “C-band spectrum is critical to satellite services, and disruption of C-band satellite service reliability will have a ripple effect that would negatively impact the delivery of entertainment, sports, news, and weather programming, threaten connectivity in remote areas, and compromise the resiliency of the national communications infrastructure,” commented the Satellite Industry Association. The NOI recognizes the importance of these operations but doesn’t do them justice, SIA said.
Cable operators said they depend on satellite connections in the 3.7 and 6 GHz bands. The American Cable Association sought to “dispel the myth that much of the C-band spectrum lies fallow, or is treated as a cushion to fall back on by the satellite operators.” For many smaller cable operators “the C-band is the only method by which they receive cable programming, as alternative conduits are unavailable, inadequate or inefficient and would have to be paid for by the cable operators themselves,” ACA said. Boeing said aeronautical communications and safety services 4.2-4.4 GHz must be protected from harmful interference “resulting from high density fixed and mobile operations in the immediately adjacent 3.7-4.2 GHz frequency band.”