Blackburn Urges FCC to 'Resolve' Ligado L-Band Issue

“There’s been a lot of heartburn surrounding the L band” and Ligado’s license modifications, but “I echo” Attorney General William Barr’s “concerns that while there may be some remaining technical issues, it’s time for the FCC to resolve” the issue, Blackburn said: The commission needs to “make a decision one way or the other on how we’re going to move forward.” Barr seeks L-band resolution (see 2002060074).

Blackburn urged all federal agencies and industry to become “true team” players in U.S. 5G strategy, saying a “healthy balance” is needed between allocating frequencies for licensed and unlicensed use. She highlighted as positives the C-band auction and the NPRM to allow sharing of the 6 GHz band with Wi-Fi and other unlicensed uses. She cautioned the U.S. is experiencing a “major 5G spectrum deficit” relative to China and others.

Evan Swarztrauber, aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, said the U.S. is in “very good shape” in the race to 5G due to the commission’s spectrum actions, including the upcoming C-band and white space NPRM votes. Pai’s C-band plan will ensure U.S. carriers get access to auctioned spectrum far sooner, with some portions of the frequency expected to transition in 2021, Swarztrauber said. The proposal would allocate about $15 billion of sale proceeds for relocation and incentive payments to incumbents on the frequency in a bid to ensure an earlier transition (see 2002060057).

Brookings Center for Technology Innovation fellow Nicol Turner Lee believes the U.S. remains in a “fragile” position relative to China on 5G. Recent FCC spectrum policy moves have helped, but the U.S. is still “catching up” in freeing up 5G-friendly frequencies, Turner Lee said. She called the Trump administration’s decision to appoint Robert Blair as its “5G czar” an unprecedented move to shift U.S. trajectory. Trump moved Blair from the State Department in December to oversee the administration’s 5G push under National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow (see 1912240015). Kudlow recently said the White House intends to hold another 5G summit in early April involving top U.S. wireless carriers and Western-world telecom equipment makers.

CTIA Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Kelly Cole highlighted the group’s push for the FCC to clear and auction the upper part of the 6 GHz band for exclusive-use licenses, and allocate the lower portion for unlicensed use (see 2002100039). A “balanced” 6 GHz plan is preferable because there “not a lot of bands out there that are eligible” for 5G use. It “doesn’t make sense” to make the entire 1,200 MHz of spectrum on the frequency available for unlicensed use, she said. Verizon Associate Vice President-Federal Regulatory Affairs Patrick Welsh emphasized the carrier’s support for some unlicensed use of the band. He urged the FCC to allow some wireless industry licensed use.

Decisions by the governments in the U.K. and other countries to allow Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei onto their 5G infrastructure remain a major concern because they “may not be looking at all of the strings attached,” including security threats, Blackburn said. Huawei’s help with 5G deployments come “at a terrible price.” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., reached a deal before the Presidents Day recess for the chamber to pass the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4998) by unanimous consent in the coming days (see 2002130054). The House-passed bill would allocate at least $1 billion to help U.S. communications providers remove from their networks Chinese equipment determined to threaten national security.