CBRS Band Very Close to Opening, O'Rielly Says; C Band Remains Critical

The CBRS Alliance scheduled an event for Sept. 18 to mark the launch of services in the band in the general authorized access tier. Tasked by Chairman Ajit Pai with overseeing changes to rules for the band, O'Rielly had said in June the launch was only a month or two away (see 1906270026). “We’re working through some last-minute … pieces, last-minute hiccups,” he said in Tuesday’s interview: “We’re within weeks, not months. Finally.”

O’Rielly acknowledged CBRS will likely be more of a band for unlicensed use by providers rather than for Wi-Fi. “We’re going to have to see what happens and it won’t be everywhere that it will be a carrier band,” he said. An auction of the licensed tier is likely by this time next year, he said.

O’Rielly urges reallocating 200-300 MHz of C band spectrum to 5G. “I don’t want to set down an arbitrary” figure, he said. “It’s going to be a lot closer to 300.” Carriers are looking for 100 MHz slots in the band, he said. “All 500 MHz will “more than likely” be reallocated over time, he said: “The real question is how much is going to be reallocated now.” But making most of the band available will take a long time, with the FCC reluctant to force broadcasters to leave it entirely, he said.

“The reallocation of the C band is gaining momentum,” O’Rielly said. “I’ve worked on this for three-plus years and I feel like we’re finally coming to the end of the process.” Mid-band is critical, he said. “This is one of the key bands,” he said. “It’s internationally harmonized. It’s where others are going.”

The FCC move to reallocate the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use is also moving in a “positive direction” though it has perhaps gotten less attention than the C band, O’Rielly said. “We’ve got more work to do,” he said: Incumbent users “need to be protected, but some of the things they have been asking for are a little out of bounds.” Some utilities have been “very aggressive,” and are looking for protections beyond which they are entitled by their licenses, he said.

CBS/Viacom, CDA

On two tech and media issues, O'Rielly signaled the FCC need not be involved.

If CBS/Viacom doesn’t include the transfer of licenses, the FCC has no statutory obligation to take up the deal, O’Rielly told us. Others say similar. O’Rielly said he hasn’t examined the transaction's particulars and cautioned that he would have to see its structure as compares with when the companies were previously joined. But the commission shouldn’t insert itself into deals that don’t revolve around license transfers, he said: “I don’t think our job is to go out there and seek involvement.” O’Rielly’s not optimistic a vote on national ownership cap changes will be soon, though he reaffirmed his willingness to vote on the matter.

O’Rielly is “troubled” by the “cavalier nature” of some recently proposed changes to Communications Decency Act Section 230. “This is not commentary about the administration,” O’Rielly said. “Superficial” calls to simply strip the provisions of 230 will only lead to more lawsuits and legal entanglement, O’Rielly said. “That’s not a solution for a better society.” Changing the rule's structure through statute or empowering a regulator would be more-effective ways to address the issue, he said.

With his term expired at the end of June, the commissioner can stay until a successor is confirmed or through the end of Congress next year. “I’ve expressed interest in potentially staying in this job, but that’s not my decision to make,” he said.

Commissioner Relations

Overall relations among the commissioners have improved under Pai, O’Rielly said. Three years ago, O’Rielly said they had deteriorated under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 1605040067), when he was one of two minority commissioners with Pai. “Certainly toward the end of Tom Wheeler days, there was just a tension on the eighth floor, you could cut it with a knife,” O’Rielly said now. Pai “brought a collaborative process … and I’ve had a good relationship with his team,” he said: “I’ve had a good relationship with my colleagues.”

O’Rielly has been surprised from some of dissents by Democrats under Pai. “They didn’t bring those issues to me at all,” he said: “They didn’t bother socializing them with us. … I make myself available.” Wheeler and Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks didn’t comment. An FCC official noted O’Rielly and Rosenworcel worked together on spectrum, public safety and fee diversion issues.

When he was in the minority, he tried to ensure that his stance on a given issue wasn’t a surprise to the majority, said O'Rielly. Though he conceded that proposals from minority political party commissioners only occasionally get any traction, he said there’s still value in them bringing their proposals to the majority.

"My voting record shows that I supported the chairman almost uniformly,” though they disagreed on parts of some items, O’Rielly said: “I don’t have commonality on issues with my own family.”

O’Rielly said he spent several days at a recent Inter-American (CITEL) Telecommunication Commission in Ottawa, and came away hopeful. The meeting is a key prelude to the World Radiocommunication Conference in Egypt this fall. “What I saw was a great desire of the [CITEL] region to stay united and present a strong front at WRC,” he said. “There are some issues that are of concern to me,” including protection levels for passive bands in the 24 GHz band, earth stations in motion in the 28 GHz band, tuning ranges at 37-43 GHz and future work on mid-band spectrum, he said: “We’re working really hard with our partners around the world to find the right landing spot.”

If the WRC doesn’t come up with the right answers, it raises big concerns about ITU's value, O'Rielly said. “If we’re not able to come to agreement … because countries seek to delay the U.S. progress, what does that mean going forward and do like-minded countries come together” in another forum, he asked. One possibility is working with nations that are leaders in spectrum, he said. At the last WRC, the U.S. faced resistance on telecom services in the 600 MHz band, but since then other countries have “kind of come around. … They’ve changed their tune,” he said: “I was very disappointed in how WRC-15 played out.”

Spectrum decisions are easier in other nations, which don’t have to dedicate significant spectrum to the armed services, O’Rielly noted. “Their bands aren’t as populated,” he said.