Two 5G Items Expected to Get 4-0 Votes by Commissioners
The two 5G items set for a vote by commissioners Thursday are expected to get 4-0 votes, FCC and industry officials said. The items are expected to be approved largely as circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai last month (see 1807110053). The items address the 39 GHz band and lay out the rules for the FCC’s first high-band auctions. They are important but “mostly noncontroversial,” said a lawyer with wireless carrier clients: “The fireworks might be reserved” for the infrastructure item (see 1807260036). The FCC didn't comment.
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Few parties have been in to lobby on the 5G items. Only CTIA and Verizon made ex parte filings on a Further NPRM on cleaning up the 39 GHz band, including an incentive auction, since it was circulated. Commission officials said there have been a few tweaks to the FNPRM in the interest of added flexibility, but no major changes.
Verizon “expressed appreciation for the Commission’s willingness to consider proposals to conduct a fair and timely reorganization of the 39 GHz band,” but didn’t discuss the merits in meetings with aides to Pai and other FCC staff, said a filing in docket 14-177. “We asked that the Commission consider tax-related consequences as it examines the alternative approaches.” CTIA expressed general support for FCC proposals to make more spectrum available for 5G (see 1807200040).
No changes are expected on the public notice on rules for the upcoming 28 and 24 GHz auctions, industry and officials said. T-Mobile (see 1807250025) and Sprint have been at the FCC to ask that they be able to bid as independent companies in the auction despite their pending deal (see 180801006).
Sprint said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-85 officials from Sprint and parent SoftBank met with an aide to Pai, Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale and other officials on the same topic. “Sprint’s Business Combination Agreement with T-Mobile is not a joint bidding arrangement,” Sprint said. “The Agreement explicitly preserves each party’s right to participate separately in the auctions and provides safeguards to ensure compliance with the Commission’s Prohibited Communications rules.”
Pai and the FCC deserve credit “for working to create a high-band spectrum pipeline that will enable new 5G wireless networks and meet ever-increasing business and consumer demand,” said Scott Bergmann, CTIA senior vice president-regulatory affairs. “Freeing up this spectrum will help stimulate billions for our economy and millions of jobs in the industries of tomorrow including the transportation, healthcare and education sectors.”
Sprint CEO Michel Combes said on a financial call Wednesday the carrier is interested in participating in the high-band auctions. “We see the upcoming auctions as an excellent opportunity to potentially supplement are existing 2.5 GHz spectrum portfolio for our 5G deployment,” Combes said. T-Mobile officials said on that company's financial call they plan to participate in the high-band auctions (see 1808010066).