Rosenworcel Sharpens Focus on Process Changes, Aims to Make More Spectrum Available for 5G

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appears likely to put less spectrum in play for 5G and unlicensed use during her tenure than did her predecessor Ajit Pai, but she seems determined to address the process for reallocating bands, industry officials said. Rosenworcel shifted much of her attention to changes to process, and that will likely be a theme for the next few years.

Some low-hanging fruit is left, with 12 GHz likely to get attention in coming months (see 2205170052), but few bands appear easy targets, officials told us. Also, relative to two years ago, the major carriers now have the mid-band spectrum to meet their immediate needs for 5G and may not be eager for another break-the-bank auction, analysts said. Rosenworcel didn’t comment.

“There does seem to be some low-hanging fruit on the spectrum side that I’d love to move forward and happy to find a way to do it in a compromise fashion if possible,” Commissioner Brendan Carr told reporters Thursday. Approving higher power in the citizens broadband radio service band tops Carr’s list. “There are a lot of places we can go on the spectrum front, and we need to be continuing to deliver results there,” he said. The FCC also should continue work to streamline infrastructure deployment, Carr said.

“Fixing the pitiful federal agency spectrum user process is very important, but everyone should strongly disagree with any nonchalant attitude towards the embarrassingly almost-bare future spectrum pipeline,” former Commissioner Mike O’Rielly told us: “We absolutely must expand the commercial 5G mid-band spectrum portfolio, like increasing allocations in 12 GHz that can be done quite easily.”

“The good news” is that Rosenworcel can free up 500 MHz of mid-band spectrum for 5G, the largest block allocated so far, by addressing the 12 GHz band, said Incompas President Chip Pickering: “If she brings that online, that matches any achievement of any chair of the FCC. It really brings in 5G competition and the ability to match what China and others are doing, for Dish [Network] to be a viable fourth competitor keeping the wireless market competitive.” Rosenworcel has always been focused on process reform, but making more spectrum available is also important, Pickering said: “She has a chance to accomplish both.”

The problems encountered before Verizon’s plans to start turning on its C-band spectrum highlighted problems with coordination, with the FAA and airline industry raising objections to use of the band around airports. Verizon and AT&T agreed in early January to delay deployments in some areas where flights could be affected, but that agreement expires in July (see 2201180065).

“FCC and NTIA staff are meeting weekly, exchanging information, and reviewing proposals to refine the technical mitigations -- as well as the analysis and assumptions used to support them -- currently in place around 5G networks,” Rosenworcel said in response to Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, as a follow-up to a recent House hearing.

“FCC and NTIA recognize that expanding spectrum opportunities for any sector -- including in the C-band -- will require the agencies to work together to navigate ... gaps in governmental coordination, the length and complexity of spectrum allocation processes, inefficient uses of spectrum, challenges in making ‘room’ for new services and technologies, and the lack of clarity about spectrum rights and the federal spectrum management process,” Rosenworcel said.

Bipartisan Interest

“Process reform is likely to be an issue where there can be bipartisan cooperation,” said spectrum consultant Tim Farrar: “That's important because the FCC has been held back from pushing more controversial items due to the administration's tardiness in making nominations and the resulting 2-2 deadlock.” Farrar noted the July deadline looms, with FAA under an acting administrator since Steve Dickson steeped down in March. “Hopefully that will not introduce further delays in putting C-band spectrum to use on a nationwide basis, especially after Verizon has worked to free up spectrum from the satellite operators more quickly than originally planned,” Farrar said.

Even if there’s enough spectrum to get started on 5G, “some of the major promises … depend on very wide channels which will require more bands than are currently allocated,” said Joe Kane, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation director-broadband and spectrum policy. Process reform remains important, he said: “The recent spectrum disputes, especially with federal agencies, have highlighted that a broken process will hamstring even apparently straightforward reallocation schemes. A functional interagency process is a prerequisite to successful reallocation.”

“We need to ensure that federal agencies don't undermine FCC decisions simply because they don’t like the outcome in any given proceeding,” said American Action Forum Technology and Innovation Policy Director Jeffrey Westling: “Reforms can only go so far, and they don’t necessarily address the core issue. Federal operators have to be more efficient with their operating rights.” The FCC “can only go so far to reallocate spectrum currently occupied by federal agencies, and if the agencies lack an incentive to relinquish those rights, they simply won’t,” he said.

“The four members of the commission must continue collaborating in the effective bipartisan fashion they've been doing the past 17 months,” said Nathan Leamer, an aide to Pai. “Building out a robust spectrum pipeline … can keep up with the demand for new devices, platforms and uses,” he said.

Auction Authority

"The most important task to accomplish regarding FCC spectrum policy is to get the FCC's auction authority renewed before” it expires Sept. 30, said Cooley’s Robert McDowell: “It has never lapsed before and there is no need for Congress to allow it to lapse at this critical juncture. Even a short-term extension will give the FCC time to work with industry, federal users and other stakeholders on identifying more bands for auction and unlicensed use. That's a process that should come to a conclusion by the end of 2023, if not sooner.”

The Pai FCC “set aside a record amount of spectrum for licensed and unlicensed uses, and it is being deployed and lit up,” said McDowell, a former commissioner: “It won't be long before America's appetite to consume even more bandwidth-intensive applications burns again. Add to that the planning needed to build the 6G ecosystem over the next five years, and before you know it we will be urgently looking for more bands to put into the hands of consumers, be that licensed or unlicensed.”

“Rosenworcel has identified some key initiatives for putting more mid-band spectrum into licensed commercial use,” emailed Free State Foundation Director-Policy Studies Seth Cooper. “Follow-through is now all-important,” he said: “The FCC needs to hold a smooth and successful auction for licenses in the 2.5 GHz band in July. The Commission also needs to work constructively with Congress and other federal agencies to get the next batch of lower 3 GHz spectrum repurposed for auction as soon as reasonably possible. Along the way, even modest expansion of unlicensed spectrum opportunities should be welcome, whether its U-NII-2C (5.470–5.725 GHz band) spectrum or something else.”

The chairwoman will likely keep her focus on issues where she knows she has four votes, predicted Digital Progress Institute President Joel Thayer. “There are a lot of things that are just out of her control,” he said: “The FCC’s spectrum auction authority extinguishes in late September and, although Congress may be close in resolving the issue, it’s still up in the air. … [The Department of Transportation] is not helping things by continuing to move the goal post on C band. It makes sense that she’ll focus on other things until spectrum lanes open up.”