FCC Dismisses 2.5 GHz Recon Petitions; SHLB Disappointed

The FCC dismissed various petitions seeking reconsideration of its order on the 2.5 GHz band, which was approved last year over partial dissents by Democrats (see 1907100054) and is expected to lead to an auction next year. The National Congress of American Indians sought reconsideration of the decision to focus the tribal priority window on rural tribal land. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition and others asked the agency to reinstate the eligibility restrictions it eliminated and allow additional educational use of the band, and the Hawai’i Broadband Initiative filed a recon petition it asked to withdraw. “We affirm the framework the Commission adopted to make available the 2.5 GHz band quickly by eliminating outdated legacy regulations that inhibited full use of the band and establishing flexible-use rules that will allow commercial providers to use this large swath of prime mid-band spectrum to provide 5G and other advanced services to American consumers,” said Thursday's order. Only Commissioner Geoffrey Starks released a statement: The educational broadband service (EBS) model “has not been perfect” but “should have been improved rather than undercut,” he said. “Given our nation’s need for mid-band spectrum and the importance of this spectrum to future wireless broadband service, particularly in tribal communities and rural America, I concur so we can make this spectrum available as soon as possible.” The tribal priority window closed in September with more than 400 applications (see 2009030012). John Windhausen, SHLB Coalition executive director, called the order disappointing Friday: “For many schools, access to EBS spectrum would have been their golden ticket to quickly deploy networks that reach their students without home internet access.” He said the coalition “provided many examples of successful wireless deployments by schools working with private sector companies, and we provided detailed economic evidence that awarding schools EBS licenses would promote economic growth and help address the homework gap.”