CSMAC Scoping Revised MOU on How FCC Works With NTIA
NTIA’s Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will consider a draft updated memorandum of understanding on how NTIA and the FCC cooperate on spectrum Thursday. The MOU follows conflicts over the past two years between the FCC and federal agencies on bands, including Ligado's proposed terrestrial use of L-band spectrum, opposed by the DOD; the 2.5 GHz band, which raised questions at the Education Department; 5.9 GHz, opposed by the Transportation Department; and 24 GHz, which raised Commerce Department concern. Industry experts note CSMAC is a largely bipartisan group so its recommendations could be given weight in the new administration.
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The Spectrum Strategy Governance Working Group notes the MOU is 15 years old. “We do not believe these reforms will solve all of the challenges in our increasingly complex spectrum world, but reform here should be seen as a foundation for future progress,” the report says. The FCC and NTIA “should consider creating a joint path for escalation of contentious issues arising under the MOU that can be taken on a timely basis,” it says.
The WG proposes discussions that should cover “spectrum planning and sharing, and international issues including those being addressed at the ITU’s World Radiocommunication Conference, and standards issues as they relate to spectrum.” It proposes the heads of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology and NTIA’s Office of Spectrum Management meet to plan meetings between the FCC chairman and NTIA administrator. The MOU would establish “a standing working group on spectrum planning and initiatives, including the development of a common set of metrics and best practices to better assess and predict the potential for harmful interference.” Leaders of the WG declined to comment Wednesday and the document posted Tuesday.
“I could see some potential value in CSMAC’s recommendation and such a mechanism to deal with reoccurring and increasingly tense spectrum disagreements between the commission and various federal government stakeholders,” former Commissioner Mike O’Rielly told us. “Given the timing, it is possible it gets lost in the administration transition as newly appointed leaders-to-be will seek different paths,” he said: “What’s clear and indisputable from anyone in this space and CSMAC’s work is that the current structure is not sustainable and must be fixed. All the structure in the world, however, is useless if the new administration doesn’t enforce its use and disputing parties can bypass it to seek out their own remedies.”
There's often “a rivalry” between NTIA and the FCC, regardless of who controls the White House, said Cooley’s Robert McDowell. “In part, that’s merely structural and institutional,” said the former FCC member. “The tension that will always exist is the private sector’s insatiable appetite for more spectrum versus the federal government’s mission to be protective of the bands it uses.” He said that with a new administration, “there’s always hope that cooperation will prevail over old rivalries.”
“Most of the spectrum fights we saw under the Trump administration were less a result of the relationship between the FCC and NTIA and more a result of the relationship between NTIA and other federal agencies,” said Doug Brake, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation director-broadband and spectrum policy. “There could be some benefit from revisiting the MOU, and clarifying effective processes for resolving contentious issues is worthwhile.”