Rosenworcel Lining Up Votes on a 4.9 GHz Stay

Staying 4.9 GHz band rules as proposed by acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel isn't a slam dunk. Rosenworcel appears close to lining up a third vote to support the stay, FCC and public safety officials said in interviews last week. The order made broad changes, giving control to states. Few of them have engaged. A Louisiana bill to reallocate the band per the FCC order got unanimous House approval last month and could pass the Senate Monday.

Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks dissented to the order (see 2009300050). Commissioner Brendan Carr voted yes. Focus has been on Nathan Simington, not a member then, officials said. Simington declined comment. There have been limited discussions among commissioner offices, officials said.

OMB still has to sign off on parts of the order, which largely involve state use of the band. An FCC spokesperson declined comment.

Carr "voted in favor” and “my position on that hasn’t changed,” he told an Internet Innovation Alliance webinar Thursday. In an “ideal world,” the rules would be closer to those for 2.5 GHz, made available to tribes and with auction planned, he said. The 4.9 order was “very much a step in the right direction towards serving the interest of public safety and also putting what had been really underutilized spectrum in a lot of areas to use,” he said.

Carr didn’t know what other members think about the rules: “Do they have a vision to ultimately coming back to where I would like to go? Would they like to go somewhere else?”

Former Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, who voted for the order with reservations, now hopes the FCC does something to spur use of the swath. “The 4.9 GHz band has been underutilized, and admittedly, the adopted new structure is fairly unique even if driven by the goal of more efficient use,” he said. “It’s not much of a surprise to learn of interest in reexamining that chosen path,” he told us. APCO, the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) and National Public Safety Telecommunications Council separately asked the FCC to reconsider the September order (see 2012300047).

“We’re optimistic” Carr and Simington “were listening to the concerns and needs of public safety,” said Western Fire Chiefs Association CEO Jeff Johnson. He's active in the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance, which wants the band returned to public safety. Both participated in PSSA webinars “and we believe their willingness to do that was a good sign for the public safety community,” he said: “We’re hopeful.”

Enterprise Wireless Association President Mark Crosby hopes the FCC will address the band. “The band is too important for public safety and business critical users to wait another 10 years,” he said.

“We appreciate” Rosenworcel’s “circulation of a stay order,” wrote APCO Executive Director Derek Poarch: “As we and many others in public safety have made clear, the 4.9 GHz order was ill-conceived and unlikely to promote public safety or the Commission’s spectrum utilization goals. A stay would be appropriate to enable the Commission to chart a much better course for this band.” NPSTC Chair Ralph Haller declined comment.

Louisiana senators plan to vote Monday to allocate the 4.9 GHz band as allowed by the FCC. HB-465 would transfer authority to the state broadband office from the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, and require the broadband office develop a leasing policy and use blind auction. An initial auction would take place by June 10, 2022 (see 2104220047).

“I have every reason to believe that it will pass without opposition” in the Senate, where Speaker Pro Temp Beth Mizell (R) will handle the bill, HB-465 sponsor state Rep. Mike Johnson (R) told us Friday. Johnson was chair and Mizell vice chair of the state’s 4.9 GHz Spectrum Task Force, which made recommendations that led to the bill. Johnson expects Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) to sign because his appointee to the task force supported the recommendations. Mid=band spectrum is essential in closing the digital divide and helping industrial manufacturing, said Johnson. Mizell and Edwards' offices didn’t comment.

Public safety requests for the FCC to reconsider its order are unnecessary, Johnson said: “Louisiana is already proving that private industry and public safety can work hand in hand to utilize the 4.9 band best.” The task force sought “to ensure we had buy-in from public safety from day one,” he said. “We were able to do that by delaying using any of the 4.9 spectrum in any parish that had a current user until 2023. Only about one-third of the state had any active users of the 4.9 spectrum. Additionally, we set aside 10 MHz in perpetuity for public safety in every parish in the state and will split the proceeds from the spectrum usage with public safety.”