NPRM on 70, 80, 90 GHz Spectrum Expected to Get Easy FCC Approval

A draft FCC NPRM seeking comment on the future use of the 70, 80 and 90 GHz bands is expected to be approved Tuesday with unanimous support of commissioners, FCC officials said. Two satellite companies weighed in on protecting satellite operations. The NPRM contemplates using the spectrum for wireless backhaul for 5G and to provide broadband to aircraft and ships. Satellite industry officials said they haven’t heard anything definitive but hope for tweaks to the NPRM.

Former FCC engineer Michael Marcus, who worked on the original 2003 service rules, told us they were written at a time when there was no demand for equipment in the very high frequencies. “Things have developed in a different direction than was anticipated at the time, which is not surprising,” he said. “It’s time to update the rules.” The biggest need is updating the database of links since the “vast majority” were probably never built, he said. The main use of the spectrum has been by financial firms to send data between New York and Chicago to beat changes in prices by a fraction of a second and gain a market advantage, Marcus said. Wireless is inherently faster than fiber for that purpose, he said.

SpaceX filed two ex parte letters, on discussions with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, in docket 20-133 (see here and here). SpaceX said the FCC should consider the effects “new uses could have on potential satellite use of the band.” The company suggested adding text to the NPRM asking about using the bands for fixed satellite services and whether aeronautical or maritime deployments would affect fixed satellite systems.

To meet customer needs its next-generation satellite, Jupiter 3, will be its first to operate in the 40/50 GHz band, Hughes said. “As demand for satellite broadband continues to grow and Hughes plans the growth of its network, Hughes is looking at utilizing frequency bands, including at 70/80/90 GHz.”

“These bands will play an increasingly important role in supporting next-generation wireless backhaul and we look forward to working with the FCC to ensure its rules are optimized to meet this growing need,” said Scott Bergmann, CTIA senior vice president-regulatory affairs. The Satellite Industry Association declined to comment Friday.

Some Wireless ISP Association members are using 60 GHz for last-mile delivery but not the higher bands now, a spokesperson said. Enterprise Wireless Alliance President Mark Crosby said EWA members haven’t yet focused on opportunities in the bands.

“We seek to promote expanded use of this co-primary millimeter-wave spectrum for a myriad of innovative services by commercial industry, and in particular, we seek to take advantage of the highly directional signal characteristics of these bands, which may permit the co-existence of multiple types of deployments,” the draft NPRM said. It said since federal agencies use the spectrum on a co-primary basis, the FCC is coordinating with NTIA.