CTIA Asks FCC to Vote in July on CBRS Rules; Urges 2019 Auction

CTIA asked the FCC to act on changes to rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band at the July 12 commissioners' meeting. The Wednesday letter by President Meredith Baker said unless the FCC acts soon, the U.S. will fall behind other countries in the race to 5G. CTIA asked the FCC to approve rules based on its April proposal made with the Competitive Carriers Association (see 1804240067). The Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC) pushed for small priority access licenses (PALs) in the band, with no major changes from the Obama administration rules.

Baker wants a 2019 auction of PALs that will be part of the band. Chairman Ajit Pai promised a vote in July (see 1805230031) on the 3-7-4.2 GHz C-band, but the 3.5 GHz band is likely to be the first additional mid-band spectrum the FCC makes available for 5G, she said. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, overseeing the revised rules, said last week he couldn’t predict when they will be ready for a vote and negotiations were continuing (see 1805240058). The FCC and O’Rielly didn’t comment on Wednesday.

Other nations are "accelerating 5G deployment by streamlining access to mid-band spectrum,” Baker wrote. “South Korea announced plans to auction 3.5 GHz spectrum next month, and Japan committed to release spectrum in the 3.6-4.2 GHz range by March 2019. Meanwhile, China released 100 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz range to each of its national operators, which are already deploying early 5G equipment for testing in multiple cities.” Baker said CTIA is open to compromise: “We continue to work with the Commission and other stakeholders on the right geographic licensing approach, and believe that the CTIA-CCA approach represents a meaningful compromise that will maximize the value of the 70 megahertz of PAL spectrum.”

“We don’t think the race to 5G should come at the expense of rural broadband,” said Claude Aiken, president of the Wireless ISP Association. WISPA is part of a third camp, the CBRS Coalition, which promotes a combination of small and large PALs in every market (see 1805100062). “We’ve worked really hard over the past couple of months to do exactly what the commission asked us to do and come up with a compromise framework that will work,” Aiken said in an interview.

Aiken’s group took part in a meeting on the band last week with O’Rielly. “This broad-based, cross-industry coalition is the largest yet in this proceeding and includes entities from cable, technology and equipment development, rural broadband, regional and rural mobile wireless carriers, industry and manufacturing, critical infrastructure, and enterprise solutions,” said a filing. The group urged a mix of larger and smaller PALs in all markets. Also represented were Frontier Communications, General Electric, Google, Motorola Solutions, NCTA, NTCA, Ruckus Networks and the Rural Wireless Association.

“This is just sort of an example of all number of sins that are being pitched to the FCC in service of 5G and the race to 5G, whether it’s some of the problematic infrastructure proposal or killing net neutrality or problematic spectrum policy,” said Phillip Berenbroick, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge. The agency could have launched the 3.5 GHz band a year ago if not for wireless industry requests for changes to the rules, he said. “If there’s a real race to 5G, it’s the carriers themselves who have delayed this process over and over and over.”

“The current rules for PALs, adopted three years ago, are vital to promoting a diverse, robust and innovative 5G ecosystem; and are best suited (particularly when compared to the alternatives licensing schemes proposed in the record) to increase rural broadband deployment, make the most efficient use of 3.5 GHz spectrum, improve opportunities for competitive entry and new market participants, and promote innovative use cases,” PISC said. Its letter in docket 17-258 was signed by the Open Technology Institute at New America, Public Knowledge, Consumers Union, Schools Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, American Library Association, Consumer Federation of America, Next Century Cities, Tribal Digital Village Network, Free Press, Common Cause, Benton Foundation and the Gigabit Libraries Network.

Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, slammed the CTIA letter. “A PAL auction could have been held late this year if the mobile industry was not insisting on re-writing the rules,” he told us. “The big tent [PISC] filing today demonstrates that rural ISPs and virtually every other industry has been willing to compromise on a reasonable combination of large- and small-area licenses, yet Commissioner O’Rielly appears to be holding out for an agreement that tailors the licenses to big mobile ISPs and excludes thousands of other potential investors and users.”

“Time is of the essence" in the mid-band, said Doug Brake, director-telecom policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. “With the C-band item teed-up for July, it will be important to see how specific the proposals are. If it is clear they have a particular game plan in mind, the process could move quickly. … With 3.5 GHz, there is room for a compromise on license sizes and terms. When it comes to the national competitiveness dynamics, it is probably more important that we get an answer on 3.5 and move forward quickly than exactly what the answer is.”

The U.S. is sixth of 10 countries recently ranked on their 5G readiness, blogged Scott Bergmann, CTIA senior vice president-regulatory affairs. “That’s not where we want to be as the global race to 5G heats up. The time has come for action.”