5G Infrastructure Changes Sought by Industry Headline FCC June 9 Agenda
Commissioners will act at their June 9 meeting on CTIA and Wireless Infrastructure Association proposals for more changes to wireless infrastructure rules designed to accelerate siting of towers and other 5G facilities, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Monday. The move was expected, as is a fight from local and state governments (see 2005110029). Pai will also ask commissioners to approve auction procedures for Phase I of the FCC's 10-year, $20.4 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and proposed an NPRM on the use of very high-band spectrum. ATSC 3.0 also is on the agenda (see 2005180066).
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CTIA and the Wireless Infrastructure Association asked the FCC last year to clarify its authority over siting decisions under the 2012 Spectrum Act (see 1911210054). “We want to resolve uncertainty about section 6409(a) in order to expedite the process for state and local governments to review applications to deploy wireless infrastructure,” Pai blogged Monday (see 2005180046). The order is part of the commission’s larger push “updating our wireless infrastructure policies to encourage private-sector investment in 5G networks," he said.
Commissioner Brendan Carr, who's spearheading the FCC’s wireless infrastructure push, will provide additional details, Pai said. Pai and Carr are to speak at a WIA virtual conference Tuesday.
U.S. momentum on 5G “is now unmistakable,” Carr said in a video Monday. “Since 2017, we’ve been updating and modernizing our infrastructure rules to support the buildout of 5G internet infrastructure.” Work remains, but 5G is now available in less-populated areas, he said. That’s a better measure of progress than the first deployments in places like New York and San Francisco, he said. The order will make it easier to extend 5G coverage, give first responders better access to coverage, and mean increased speeds for consumers, he said.
Giving local governments a few weeks to review the order will be seen as “a showing of bad faith on the part of the commission and the industry,” emailed municipal lawyer Best Best’s Gerard Lederer. Groups representing local governments and local leaders “dedicated time and effort toward productive dialogue and sharing best practices for addressing wireless deployments in the era of Covid and shelter at home orders,” he said: “Not once during those conversations was there any effort to address the 6409 issues.”
WIA President Jonathan Adelstein applauded the announcement. “WIA has been working with the commission since last year on modernizing wireless infrastructure rules to promote colocation and streamline the deployment of wireless networks,” he emailed. CTIA didn't comment right away.
Pai said commissioners will consider an NPRM on “innovative new uses” of the 71–76, 81–86, 92–94 and 94.1–95 GHz bands. “We will be seeking comment on potential rule changes for commercial users to facilitate the provision of wireless backhaul for 5G, as well as the deployment of broadband services to aircraft and ships,” he said. All the bands are now classified as co-primary spectrum for federal and nonfederal users and the FCC will have to coordinate with the NTIA, he said.
The RDOF vote is expected to solidify Oct. 29 as the start for the $16.4 billion Phase I auction, despite requests to either delay or speed the USF broadband program's start (see 2004280055).
"Adopting these auction procedures now will allow service providers that hope to bid in the auction to start planning" for the October auction, Pai wrote. He wants areas unserved by broadband to get access as quickly as possible. Commissioners approved a public notice on RDOF auction procedures at their February meeting (see 2002280002).
The FCC outlined a draft calendar for RDOF participants, in a news release Monday. It plans an online auction tutorial by June 15. The short-form application filing window for the multiround reverse auction opens July 1 and closes July 15. The bureau would make an auction bidding tutorial available by Oct. 14. The mock auction would begin Oct. 26.
Phase I is expected to include rural areas covering about 6 million homes, Pai said. Stakeholders debated the size of minimum geographic bidding areas during a comments round (see 2003270066). The Wireline Bureau is evaluating provider challenges to a preliminary list of eligible census blocks for the Phase I auction and is expected to release a final list after the auction procedures are adopted. The remainder of the $20.4 billion fund, including any that goes unawarded in Phase I, will go to Phase II RDOF support. Better broadband mapping is expected to be available by then.
Pai said addressing the digital divide has been his core "bread-and-butter" mission since he became chairman, and it's more important now because of COVID-19. "If you don't have an internet connection at home, you don't have the option of teleworking," he said. "Your children can't participate in distance learning. And you can't take advantage of telehealth visits with your doctor from the safety of your own home."