FCC Should Reach Out to Fed Agencies for Future Spectrum, Says Simington

The FCC should focus on coordination and outreach to federal agencies when identifying future commercial spectrum, said Commissioner Nathan Simington in a virtual talk for WifiForward Monday. “Communication with other federal agencies is key,” Simington said. He compared finding new spectrum to a real estate developer building in “greenfield” versus one putting up buildings in Paris or New York. “No matter where you want to build, you are going to have to deal with prior efforts.” He said he would like to see the FCC’s November 5.9 GHz order remain in effect, but it isn’t clear whether the dedicated short-range communications industry and the Department of Transportation will succeed in having aspects of that order changed. “I haven’t heard any rumblings at the commission, but you never know.” Simington said “light-touch regulation” drove innovation in unlicensed spectrum bands, and the agency should hold to that philosophy going forward: “We have to be a little bit humble about what we can see in our foggy crystal balls.” The world “is in a pivotal place” for the future of the 6 GHz band, Simington said. He said it's likely China will raise the matter of Wi-Fi on the band at the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference, and it's up to the U.S. to persuade European Union countries to “stay the course.” The more countries that adopt 6 GHz for Wi-Fi, the better the environment for advances in the technology, he said. Asked about concerns that the U.S. could be falling behind other countries in internet technology, the Canadian native said the U.S. spawned most of the fundamentals of modern telecom, and it should “buck up.” Americans have a “tendency to have low self-esteem in some of these areas,” Simington said: American innovation was “fantastic in the past and will be fantastic in the future.”