FCC Considering All Options on 5.9 GHz, Including Reallocation for Wi-Fi, Pai Says

The Office of Engineering and Technology recently sought comment on a waiver request by the 5G Automotive Association to deploy cellular vehicle-to-everything technology (C-V2X) in the upper 20 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band. In October, an NCTA-led coalition urged the FCC to take a fresh look (see 1810160061) at the band.

The commission has completed the first phase of testing and is working with all stakeholders, including the Department of Transportation, on the best options, Pai said. The FCC is considering whether to scuttle further tests of sharing between DSRC and Wi-Fi, he said. “There has been an argument on one side that [DSRC] has been bypassed with C-V2X and other technologies,” he said. “Others have argued that the entire band should be reallocated for essentially … Wi-Fi. That’s one of the things that we’ll have to figure out.”

“The chairman’s endorsement of efforts to change the sad state of affairs in the 5.9 GHz band is good news, and I hope the commission will quickly move an item that will contain the elements necessary to reallocate a good portion of the band for unlicensed services," Commissioner Mike O'Rielly told us.

“We believe testing can continue while C-V2X is being considered," an ITS America spokesperson said.

5G

“Pai and his colleagues clearly recognize that both spectrum policy and the wireless ecosystem has radically changed since 1999, when the FCC gave the auto industry exclusive use of 75 MHz for a specific technology that has not panned out," said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. "The band is completely unused and an obstacle to the very wide-channel, gigabit-fast Wi-Fi standards that can help ensure the U.S. has the world’s most robust 5G wireless ecosystem for both mobile and indoor use.”

Winning the race to 5G is important to the U.S. and to preserving an open internet worldwide, Pai said. He acknowledged that other countries, particularly China, also want to be No. 1. “The U.S. historically has driven wireless innovation,” he said. “We won the race to 4G, which was great, not as a parochial talking point but because it also spurred an internet economy, the mobile app system, for example, that really took root on our shores.”

The FCC needs to make “massive amounts” of spectrum available, licensed and unlicensed, and spur deployment of small cells and other infrastructure by cutting regulatory red tape, Pai said. He stressed the importance of modernizing rules to promote fiber deployment. “This is a critical part of 5G, getting the wireline infrastructure in place to carry all this internet traffic back into the core of the networks,” he said. “If we get those three components right, America will win the race to 5G.”

Politics

Pai said he's “looking forward to working with” the incoming Democratic majority in the House and the majority-GOP Senate on telecom issues, citing interest in improving access to telemedicine and other broadband services as a top 2019 agenda item. Initiatives to close the digital divide “are so important for the country” no matter who gets credit for pursuing those programs, he said.

House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., intends aggressive FCC oversight if he becomes the subcommittee chairman next year (see 1811140055). House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., the incoming committee chairman, is interested in more critical FCC oversight (see 1810190034).

Pai deflected a question about whether he will seek electoral office, and laughed heartily at the question. He didn’t rule out a future run. “I’m very focused on doing the best job I can in this position,” he said. “I’m going to give it my all for the next two years.”

Pai downplayed resistance by local governments to the FCC’s moves on infrastructure. Last week, additional big cities joined a lawsuit challenging the September wireless infrastructure order (see 1812120009). “There have been a few who have expressed concerns,” he said. “Our position is pretty simple. We want America to lead in 5G. We want 5G infrastructure to be more commonly deployed.”

The FCC’s first high-band auction has had numbers far below other auctions (see 1812140018), at just under $700 million. Pai declined to comment on whether the numbers are what the FCC expected. “Different spectrum bands have different properties,” he said. “Some may be better for coverage, some may be more appropriate for capacity. That sometimes drives market interest in a different way.” No single metric determines whether an auction is a success, he said. The key challenge is making more spectrum available for flexible use. The FCC also doesn’t have a time frame for making more mid-band spectrum available, at 3.5 GHz, the C-band or 6 GHz, Pai said. “Unfortunately, we have to work through for each of these bands a lot of complicated issues.”

Pai declined to say whether the FCC might bar companies found to have submitted incorrect coverage maps (see 1812070048) from participating in the Mobility Fund II auction. “That’s a question inextricably intertwined with the enforcement investigation,” he said. “I can’t comment on what the remedies or penalties might be.”

The agency has been active on public safety issues on his watch, Pai said, mentioning wireless emergency alerts and the wireless resiliency framework. “I personally spent a lot of time in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and Florida and Texas, trying to get a sense of what’s happening on the group and if there are ways that we can improve our processes,” he said.

Pai defended last year’s order overturning the 2015 net neutrality rules, which drew concern Friday on their first anniversary (see 1812140050). “The internet remains free and open,” he said. “Consumers continue to be protected. … Broadband infrastructure investment is up.”