Public Safety Licensees Likely Won't Have to Exit T Band, but What Happens Next Unclear, EWA Told

The FCC doesn’t “really believe” public safety agencies will ever leave the 470-512 MHz T band, despite the 2012 Spectrum Act's mandate, Enterprise Wireless Alliance Regulatory Counsel Elizabeth Sachs told the EWA’s virtual wireless leadership summit Wednesday. Congress “adopted legislation without really understanding what it meant or who was involved or what the impact would be,” said Sachs, of Lukas LaFuria.

Congress didn’t realize that business/enterprise and commercial systems also use the T band, Sachs said. Public safety was getting 700 MHz spectrum for FirstNet, and Congress wanted “a pound of flesh” in return, she said.

“There’s no place to go,” Sachs said. “To the extent you’re supposed to get comparable spectrum, you tell me where you’re going to find comparable spectrum” in markets such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, she said: “It does not exist.” The spectrum could be auctioned if public safety moved off, “but you’d have to do it one 125 KHz channel at a time,” she said. The FCC sought comment, with no carrier expressing an interest in the band (see 2009300030). Congress put off action until after the election (see 2009140020), and Sachs said Congress appears unlikely to act. The best hope is for Congress to reengage next year, she said.

The post-incentive auction TV repacking continues but faces challenges, Sachs said. “Multiple administrations in the FCC have been on a tear to clear more spectrum for commercial wireless use, primarily,” which includes repacking TV stations in more concentrated spectrum, she said. “It’s a game of musical chairs, and we’re running out of chairs.”

Stations have been packed into channels 14-20 in many cases, Sachs said. “The rules are clear that they have a responsibility to protect land mobile [radio],” she said. Most problems could be resolved ahead of time if broadcasters installed filters, but they often don’t, she said: “It’s a lengthier process than it should be.” Broadcasters need to be aware that wherever they are, there are always Part 90 licensees in the market, she said.

“There’s no question” LMR faces interference from repacked broadcasters, Sachs said: “How do you fix it? Who pays and how quickly can it be done?” EWA members are “bystanders,” she said. “We didn’t get anything [from the incentive auction], but we’re getting the interference,” she said. “It’s a big issue.”

The FCC’s recent 4.9 GHz order (see 2009300050) could be beneficial to EWA members, said Robin Cohen, EWA senior vice president-strategic initiatives. “It’s 50 MHz that’s not being used, and if it can be opened up to eligible entities that need broadband spectrum … then we agree with all of that,” she said. Cohen said EWA raised questions about how the process would work and will continue to monitor.

EWA remains concerned about sharing with Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band, approved by the FCC 5-0 in April (see 2004230059). “EWA members heavily use this band” for microwave backhaul, Cohen said. “The commission is on record saying they don’t believe there’s going to be any interference,” she said. Industry “has repeatedly commented that there are these large concerns.”

Ira Keltz, deputy chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, told the conference he misses in-person meetings, which he said are especially helpful for FCC engineers. “As great as the internet has been and the connections have been and everything has held up great … it’s not quite the same,” he said. Chairman Ajit Pai is serious about covering more areas with broadband, Keltz said. “It always come down to spectrum and access to spectrum,” he said. “We keep coming up with new applications, we keep talking about moving toward virtual reality, augmented reality type applications … they do use more and more bandwidth,” he said.

EWA President Mark Crosby said members are enthusiastic about new spectrum becoming available, including the citizens broadband radio service band: Members will call and say, “CBRS, how do I benefit from this? What can I do with it? It sounds like I got to be there.” There’s similar interest in 900 MHz, he said. Pai “has done pretty much everything he set out to do,” Crosby said. “Some people would say he might have been a little fast and furious with some of the bands,” he said.

We still don’t “have a true sense of what’s coming with 5G,” said Chris Guttman-McCabe of CGM Advisors, who also spoke at the conference. In the 900 MHz band, seven experimental licenses are “investigating 30-50 different use cases with large industrial-utility enterprises,” Guttman-McCabe said. “The evolution is coming. The question is at what scale and how does it expand.”