Consensus Developing on C Band, With Most Favoring Transparent Auction, O'Rielly Says
Consensus is starting to emerge on the C band, with the different proposals getting closer together, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said at the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Global Summit Thursday. The FCC needs to get as much as 300 MHz available for 5G “as soon as possible,” O’Rielly said. “My first priority is speed,” he said.
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The C-Band Alliance proposal “is moving a lot closer to a transparent auction,” O’Rielly said. “It really is a question of who conducts the auction,” the FCC or another entity. The commissioner told us he's open-minded on a private auction. “We’re digesting the CBA proposal,” he said. “They put more specificity in recent filings, both the transparency piece and the band plan that they proposed.” Nothing will be easy, he said. "There are a lot of moving parts to the C band discussion,” O’Rielly said. Whether to allow fixed wireless in part of the band will come after initial decisions, he said: ”We have so much going on.”
O’Rielly predicted the unlicensed part of the citizens broadband radio service will be operational soon, though many other predicted deadlines have come and gone. “We’re within weeks, a month or two, of having GAA [the general authorized access tier] operational,” he said.
O’Rielly is excited the TV white spaces could be poised to get more use: “It has been a long, arduous process.” Broadcast incumbents have to be protected, he said: “I am very respectful of licenses. I have to be mindful of what the claims are for interference problems, what’s lying behind the claim. In many instances these have been long-standing fights.”
The U.S. needs more unlicensed spectrum, O’Rielly said. He predicted the FCC will examine the 5.9 GHz band in the near future (see 1905140050). “The timing of all things is determined by the chairman,” he said. The 5.9 GHz band “is not just more spectrum, it’s the right spectrum, it’s the right location,” he said.
O’Rielly also said the FCC should take a look at the 4.9 GHz band (see 1904290182), since there isn’t much licensed interest. “I’m not against licensing it,” but industry has demonstrated little support, he said. “The item has been a little bit slow.”
The key band for Wi-Fi and unlicensed is 6 GHz, O'Rielly said. “I think we can push the envelope and get a little bit further than what we’ve teed up so far,” he said. “There’s nothing like 6 GHz in terms of the amount of spectrum we’re talking about,” he said: “It is a very congested band.”
SES and Intelsat executives said weighing the potential for terrestrial alternatives to C-band delivery of video must take into account complexity, acceptance and cost. In a meeting with FCC staff including International Bureau Chief Tom Sullivan on the C-Band Alliance proposal for the 3.7-4.2 GHz band, they argued fully unrestricted wireless licenses are impractical, according to a docket 18-122 ex parte posting Wednesday. They said their proposal wouldn't affect existing Alaskan C-band services.