A number of top officials in the Biden administration are working to develop a unified and cohesive national spectrum strategy, which could be released within the next few months.
A big part of that strategy will involve allocating more spectrum for 5G. And already the FCC's chairwoman said she's eying the 12.7GHz-13.25GHz spectrum band as a possible location for the agency's next big spectrum push.
However, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel warned that "repurposing spectrum is not for the faint of heart." She explained that the growth of wireless communications in general – both among commercial and federal users – has put huge demands on the nation's finite spectrum resources. Thus, it's unclear when the 12.7GHz-13.25GHz spectrum band might be released for 5G, how it might be released to commercial users, and what types of stipulations might be imposed on operations in the band.
The fact that Biden administration officials are working on a national spectrum strategy, and that they're flagging the 12.7GHz-13.25GHz band as a location of interest, could indicate movement in 5G spectrum policy in general. That's important considering the FCC has no additional 5G spectrum auctions planned following a blizzard of recent midband spectrum auctions – CBRS, C-band, 3.45GHz and 2.5GHz – that have collectively generated a total of more than $100 billion in revenues.
"We need to free up more spectrum to unleash innovation," said Biden's Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo during an NTIA spectrum event this week. During the NTIA event, Alan Davidson acknowledged that "we need a national spectrum strategy." Davidson is the agency's chief administrator. "It's a process that we're going to go through," he said, adding that he expects the strategy to come together "in the coming months." "Stay tuned for more on that," he said.
The development comes months after the FCC and NTIA agreed to tighten their relationship. That's critical considering the NTIA oversees federal spectrum usage, and many past FCC spectrum auctions for 5G have been based on airwaves released by federal users. It's also an important development in the 5G industry following years of inter-agency squabbles within the Trump administration.
The new discussions about a national spectrum strategy coincide with the recent release of a spectrum proposal from the nonprofit Aspen Institute. "As usage continues to grow and new wireless tools and services come online, our spectrum policies must meet the challenge. This is the time to develop a comprehensive plan, and act," Vivian Schiller, executive director of Aspen Digital, said in a release.
But some federal officials at the NTIA event continued to warn that it will be difficult for them to release more spectrum for commercial uses, including 5G. But they suggested that "we can make sharing work."
The recent establishment of the Partnering to Advance Trusted and Holistic Spectrum Solutions (PATHSS) Task Group within the National Spectrum Consortium (NSC). The group has already held 10 meetings – including four involving classified information – regarding the sharing of 3GHz spectrum with commercial users.
Source: https://www.lightreading.com/regulatorypolitics/5g-may-expand-into-127ghz-1325ghz-next/d/d-id/780481
