FCC Pleased with Industry Progress on 3.65 GHz Band
CHICAGO -- The 3.65 GHz band, which the FCC allocated for use on a hybrid, semi-licensed basis in 2005, is proving to be a “success story,” said Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp. The band rules have been seen as offering a new way for the commission to regulate spectrum, with a model that could possibly be used in other bands as well. Knapp spoke Monday at a special one-day session at a Wireless Communications Association conference.
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"We have about 1,500 licenses that have been issued for 15,000 sites,” Knapp told us. “When you think that it’s only been three years since we began accepting applications to build in this band, with the restrictions to protect the satellite earth stations, it’s moving along at a pretty good pace. It’s been impressive for the relatively short amount of time that the spectrum has been available.”
Asked by an audience member if the FCC was examining changes to its rules for the band, including authorizing devices to operate at higher power levels, Knapp said nothing was currently before the commission. He noted that rules for spread spectrum and Wi-Fi have been amended three times since approved by the FCC 25 years ago. “We'll see how the service evolves,” he said.
"There are places where the commission has allowed higher power in rural areas,” Knapp said. “The flipside, what you have to remember, is those coordination zones were also a function of the power. Power can help you in some situations, but when everyone starts to boost then you have more interference to manage between the licensees.”
Some organizations that received Broadband Technology Opportunities grants from the NTIA proposed projects that use 3.65 GHz spectrum, Knapp said. “It looks like there’s going to be more investment here.” After the commission authorizes the use of a band, “it takes time to actually ramp up and build things,” he said. “The good news here is that people are doing what we thought. It’s opened spectrum for all kinds of users for all kinds of applications."
Like the FCC’s opening of the TV white spaces, the offering of the 3.65 GHz band on a semi-licensed basis will help the agency look at what works in the real world, Knapp said. “I don’t know that any of these are directly transferable to other places, but from each of these cases we learn something more that when we look at other spectrum gives us ideas about how we might make more efficient use of other spectrum,” he said. “We're learning from this as we go forward and who knows which models may be appropriate for other bands.” Knapp also said neither the white spaces nor hybrid model will replace more traditional methods of sharing spectrum for example, through more traditional FCC auctions.