Carriers Hope Spectrum Strategy Will Lay Out Bands for Licensed Use

Some industry officials say the national spectrum strategy the Biden administration is expected to release will have the most value if the administration lays out with more granularity mid-band spectrum that is targeted for 5G, and eventually 6G. The plan was the focus of a day-long NTIA forum Sept. 19 (see 2209190061). Experts agreed it will likely take six months or longer to put a strategy together.

CTIA presaged what will likely be the carrier view in comments after the release of a recent Aspen Institute report (see 2209150076), which seeks a “10-year plan with clear national goals to release more spectrum into the commercial marketplace.” CTIA said in response, “We must not lose focus on the pressing need for a pipeline of exclusive-use, licensed commercial spectrum, especially mid-band spectrum, in order to maintain America’s leadership of the emerging 5G economy.”

“You would hope” the strategy “would at least identify specific bands for auction,” said Cooley’s Robert McDowell, a former FCC commissioner: “That could be part and parcel to a pipeline bill next year, in the next Congress. That’s at a minimum.”

“Who would take the lead on this?” asked former Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, noting NTIA “has its hands full” with the broadband, equity, access and deployment program. The FCC can’t be the lead as an independent agency, he said. The strategy has to “say something more than ‘we need more coordination,’” he said: “I don’t think that’s going to look too good.”

Former Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said the administration will release a strategy, perhaps comparable to the 2010 national broadband plan (NBP). “Most of us printed it out and never looked at the damned thing,” he said. “There’ll be a document,” he predicted: “What it does, I have no clue in how big its scope [will be] and how far they’re going.”

“Carriers will be disappointed if the process does not result in a significant reallocation of mid-spectrum for exclusive use, but whether that is part of the formal plan or part of an ancillary process that emerges from the plan or is done contemporaneously is not critical,” emailed New Street’s Blair Levin, who coordinated the NBP at the FCC. Levin noted FCC officials praised the recent Aspen Institute spectrum report for providing “a band by band analysis, suggesting to me that the FCC leadership knows it has to do something that is band specific.”

The plan needs to “articulate the many small ways -- that add up to a big thing -- that spectrum policymaking can be reformed so that, regardless of the election outcome, the Spectrum Policy Reform Act of 2023 can become a possibility,” Levin said.

Congress will have to act to change how federal agencies preserve their spectrum holdings, said Recon Analytic’s Roger Entner. “Government agencies have a lot of sway, and it would take an act of Congress to make them change their ways,” he said. “The wireless industry is looking for exclusive use licenses as it is the most productive way to use spectrum,” he said: “The problem with sharing is that the incumbent gives nothing up and the parties who are expected pay for the privilege to use the spectrum end up being subtenants with next to no rights. One cannot build a business on these conditions.”

Broader Questions

“Spectrum policy is more than what is the next band that we put up for auction,” said Public Knowledge Government Affairs Director Greg Guice. “Spectrum policy requires that we think about the full mix of access regimes,” he said. There’s too much focus on how much money auctions will raise “and it completely perverts our spectrum policy,” he said. PK isn’t opposed to putting individual bands in the strategy, but with analysis on the most efficient ways to use each band, he said.

“I've been surprised at how clear NTIA folks are about the need to open up more bands -- that's a good sign that federal agencies will face more pressure to reevaluate their spectrum uses to see if clearing or sharing is feasible while preserving critical missions,” said Joe Kane, ITIF director-broadband and spectrum policy. “Identifying particular bands is a priority for everyone right now, and since the national spectrum strategy is the opportunity to make big announcements, it would make sense to include some bands there,” he said. The bigger issue is “whether the strategy creates a better process for deciding on what bands to address,” he said.

“There needs to be a coordinated national spectrum strategy moving forward to provide additional spectrum for both mobile communications and for unlicensed use,” emailed Deborah Collier, Citizens Against Government Waste vice president-policy and government affairs. “Spectrum is a limited resource that must be managed carefully to ensure the needs of the public are balanced with the needs of federal agencies that hold and use spectrum allocations for certain purposes,” she said.

Putting together a spectrum pipeline “is going to require everyone to have a seat at the table -- agencies that hold spectrum allocations, the two agencies involved in managing spectrum allocations, the private sector that needs increasing amounts of spectrum allocations to serve their customers and the public that uses both licensed and unlicensed spectrum to communicate,” Collier said.

“Beyond a spectrum pipeline, a national spectrum strategy will also need to look at the incentives for federal operators to efficiently utilize their existing assignments,” said American Action Forum Technology and Innovation Policy Director Jeffrey Westling: “We don't want to jeopardize the critical missions that federal license holders undertake, so if we can make it more beneficial to the federal agencies to be as efficient as possible, we could see better outcomes for all."

“We need more mid-band spectrum,” emailed CTIA Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Scott Bergmann: “We’re confident that we can work together with all stakeholders to address any concerns and free up the licensed spectrum we need to maintain America’s 5G leadership.”