FCC Leadership on Spectrum Called Key to U.S. Leadership on 5G
FCC leadership on spectrum is the nation’s “secret weapon” for the U.S. to lead the world on 5G, said Peter Pitsch, Intel associate general counsel, during a Telecommunications Industry Association webinar Thursday. “Getting the spectrum in the marketplace is going…
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to create an investment climate.” What a 5G world will look like remains to be seen, he said. “How many intelligent cars … how many machine-to-machine configurations,” how 5G will look in different industries, “that’s all unclear,” Pitsch said. “What is clear is the potential to profoundly change the world.” The FCC was right not to impose tough performance rules on the licensed spectrum in the bands, Pitsch said. “Coming up with performance requirements for 5G when we’re not entirely sure what it’s going to be, is fraught with the possibility of impeding innovation and imposing unnecessary costs,” he said. The FCC’s spectrum frontiers order approved Thursday (see 1607140052) is “hugely important,” said Rob Kubik, Samsung Electronics America director-public policy, engineering and technology. “So far, when the FCC allocates new spectrum, it has been small chunks,” Kubik said. “This is the first, wide-license chunk that’s going to be available for new systems.” There’s a lot industry can do with wide channels, he said. The order appears to offer a balanced approach with lots of licensed and unlicensed spectrum, Kubik said. The FCC was right to approve multiple bands at the same time, along with flexible rules, said Jeffrey Marks, senior counsel at Nokia. “Just saying that 5G is important, saying that it’s a government initiative, is important in and of itself.” Marks said the agency should impose cybersecurity rules. Companies like Nokia are fighting to stay ahead of threats, he said. “Strict regulations … top down from the government aren’t the best way to be nimble and to keep up with the bad guys,” he said. While Nokia still has to see the text of the order, Marks said he is “cautiously optimistic” that the cybersecurity rules “won’t be too onerous.”