FCC Draft Order on Wireless Infrastructure Just Opening Act, Pai Aide Says
The FCC will move on additional infrastructure overhaul, but not all at once, Rachael Bender, wireless adviser to Chairman Ajit Pai, told an FCBA lunch audience Wednesday. Aides to all five commissioners were at the session and indicated they mostly agreed on the importance of 5G and other looming spectrum issues. The Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee meets Thursday in what's expected to be a key session.
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The first of the wireless infrastructure items, slated for a vote by commissioners next week (see 1710260038), is the first of the areas that will be addressed aimed at speeding deployment, Bender said. “We teed up all those issues because those are the issues the chairman sees as challenge or issues that need to be resolved,” she said. “This is a first step. … There are certain items that will take longer than others.”
“It’s time for us to resolve some of these issues that have been out there for years,” said Erin McGrath, aide to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. Commissioner Brendan Carr, designated as the lead commissioner on wireless infrastructure, is “looking forward to moving forward on all sorts of elements to the infrastructure proceedings,” said his aide Kevin Holmes. “If there’s anything in particular that you all are interested in, we’re happy to hear from you.”
Bender reminded attendees that the agency can hold no major spectrum auctions until Congress approves legislative language that would allow auction deposits to be sent directly to the Treasury Department (see 1710240065). Bender indicated the regulator is pushing to open more high-frequency bands because that’s what industry says it wants. “We’re going to all keep working hard to find spectrum wherever we can get it,” she said.
“Obviously, we need spectrum, low band, high band and mid band,” McGrath said. “We’re going to keep pushing, at least my boss is going to keep pushing, for additional bands to be added.” The time is now to identify new spectrum, since reallocation takes years, she said. “It’s really not my place to determine which band is more important, which band is going to be used,” McGrath said. “At this point, industry has come to us and asked us for certain things. … We provide them the resource and then they build off of that.” O’Rielly believes the market should decide what works, she said: “I can’t foretell the future.”
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel wants the agency to release a timetable for opening different bands for broadband, said aide Umair Javed. Put the bands on a calendar along with deadlines, Javed said. “If nothing else, it would help equipment manufacturers and standards bodies to finalize their work."
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn wants an “all-of-the-above approach” on spectrum, said her aide Louis Peraertz. For her, the approach means “low-income communities in rural areas, low-income communities in urban areas, and it means all providers, including satellite,” he said. On BDAC, Javed and Peraertz said their bosses share the concerns expressed by congressional Democrats that the group needs more local and state representation (see 1711070082). The wireless aides see 5G as holding much promise. “4G put phones in everybody’s hands,” Javed said, adding, “5G is going to be bolder and is going to do even more for the economy.”