Questions Remain Whether DOD Will Be Compensated for Sharing CBRS
Questions remain whether the FCC will agree with NTIA that DOD should receive compensation under the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act (CSEA) for its costs to make changes needed for sharing in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. The FCC is part of a technical panel, with NTIA and OMB, that last year endorsed the costs. It hasn't issued a public notice required under the CSEA.
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The FCC scheduled a June auction of priority access licenses in the band. In September, the FCC and NTIA disagreed on reimbursement. “The frequencies in the 3550-3650 MHz band are ‘eligible frequencies’ as described in Section 113(g)(2) of the NTIA Organization Act,” NTIA said then. Those airwaves “are not ‘eligible frequencies’” under the CSEA, “so the law’s notice provisions don’t apply in the first place,” an FCC spokesperson said at the time.
In December, NTIA reported $98.2 million in initial estimated sharing costs for the CBRS band (see 1912230023). The technical panel endorsed the costs.
Charles Cooper, associate administrator of the NTIA Office of Spectrum Management, said last week DOD still expects to be reimbursed for its sharing costs (see 2001280060). The FCC and NTIA didn’t comment Tuesday. Asked Thursday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said only that the CBRS auction is “still on track” to start June 25. He praised the efforts of Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and FCC staff on the band.
“I’ve looked at it briefly,” O’Rielly said in media Q&A to our query. “It’s not something I’ve been part of.” Staff have been working on it and there appear to be different interpretations of the CSEA, he said: “We’ll just see how that plays out.”
“Spectrum transition issues can be difficult but the juice is worth the squeeze,” Wireless ISP Association President Claude Aiken told us. “Just like WISPA urges the FCC to resolve the 3.65 transition issues facing hundreds of WISPs who may not be able to fully transition to CBRS-capable equipment before their licenses expire, we also urge the FCC resolve this issue in a manner that ensures robust use by incumbent licensees and future users.”
Since it has been difficult “to create financial incentives for federal agencies to share spectrum, we certainly should not create disincentives,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America and a member of the CSMAC: "There is no better use for CBRS auction revenue than to ensure the military is made whole for its efforts to advance spectrum sharing.”.
The 3.5 GHz band appears to clearly qualify under the CSEA since it is being "reallocated from Federal use ... to shared use" and will be "assigned by competitive bidding pursuant to Section 309(j)," emailed Tom Struble, tech policy manager at the R Street Institute. The provision is “very broad in its language,” he noted. “On its face I don't see how it could be interpreted in any other way. So unless Congress passed something more recently that specifically addresses the 3.5 GHz band and requires something different,” DOD should “get its sharing costs reimbursed out of the Spectrum Relocation Fund following the PAL auctions in June,” he said.