Congress OKs Lower 3 GHz Study; Long Timelines a Concern

Congress approved $50 million in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for a 3.1-3.45 GHz study, to be done by DOD, with the support of NTIA. Carriers had worked behind the scenes to oppose the allocation, which was a top priority of DOD, industry officials said. The legislation would give DOD 21 months to complete the study and says an auction can't start before May 31, 2025. Some say that's too much time and carriers can’t wait almost four years for more mid-band spectrum for 5G.

The timeline likely means the FCC, NTIA and DOD would stop discussions on bringing the band to market until the study is complete, two former senior FCC officials said. That means after the 2.5 GHz auction, expected to start in early 2022, no other mid-band spectrum will be in the 5G pipeline, they said. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation Monday (see 2111100081).

A 21-month study “is an eternity when it comes to spectrum allocation,” said TechFreedom General Counsel Jim Dunstan. “This is a major back-track from where Congress was in 2020, when it passed” the Beat China for 5G Act, he said, which led to the ongoing 3.45 GHz auction. The 3.45 GHz auction closed out the week at $21.88 billion after 138 rounds.

“It is a good thing to study and plan,” emailed New Street’s Blair Levin: “One can debate whether the full 21 months is necessary.” Levin said industry “will always keep up a drumbeat of ‘we need more spectrum sooner,’” but it can probably “live with the mandated delay.” Having "just spent over $100 billion to buy [C-band] spectrum (much more if you include the T-Mobile purchase of the Sprint 2.5 GHz spectrum), the next few years are” a time to "deploy networks and start earning" a return on investment, the analyst added.

"The difficult aspect of the 3.1-3.45 GHz portion of the band has always been the DOD's reluctance to make additional bandwidth available, and the FCC has limited authority,” said Jeffrey Westling, R Street Institute technology and innovation policy fellow. “It is really the NTIA, and ultimately the White House, that has the authority to either move DOD operations out of the band or accommodate additional operations through a shared regime,” he said: “We can't ignore that the executive branch has moved on the 3.45-3.55 GHz portion of the band, but I think there has still been some heel dragging on the lower portion of the band.”

“The Infrastructure bill made clear we need more mid-band spectrum to meet the needs of U.S. consumers,” CTIA said in a statement: “We welcome additional resources for the Department of Defense to make more spectrum available for commercial services and Congress’s clear direction and focus around the lower 3 GHz band. Promptly bringing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band to market is crucial to our global 5G leadership.”

The study is “generally positive news” despite “slow timelines,” former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly told us. “The new funding seems to facilitate a congressional demand that DOD permit 3.1-3.45 GHz for commercial purposes, either shared or exclusive use.”

“The allocation of this money to study interference concerns is likely tied to potential interference to federal systems," said Keller and Heckman’s Wes Wright: "But the C-band, 6 GHz band and [citizens broadband radio service] deployments may have persuaded Congress to fund a more robust study before proceeding” to another reallocation.

The bill's provision is “terrible policy,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. “It doesn’t actually require a single" megahertz "to be auctioned for 5G but leaves that up to DOD,” he said: “It tramples the traditional roles of NTIA and FCC to determine and coordinate commercial sharing of underutilized federal bands. And it requires any of the 350 MHz that DOD can share to be auctioned, when in fact a hybrid framework such as CBRS would be more efficient and has worked perfectly to protect incumbent Navy radar operations.”

Calabrese favors a provision in the Spectrum Innovation Act (see 2111120002), which would change how the money is allocated, with more NTIA control and a shorter timeline.