CTIA Questions DOD's Approach on Clearing 3.1 GHz Band

A CTIA executive on Wednesday criticized DOD’s work so far on the potential clearing of parts of the lower 3 GHz band. “We need more spectrum to meet commercial demand” and the federal government holds the most spectrum, said CTIA Senior Vice President-Spectrum Umair Javed during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar on Wednesday. Other panelists praised the Biden administration for releasing a national spectrum strategy (see 2403120006). The strategy includes a co-led NTIA and DOD study of the lower 3 GHz band.

DOD originally said clearing the lower 3 GHz would take 20 years or more and cost “gazillions of dollars,” Javed said (see 2209190061). “That was the incumbent in the band offering those numbers with no back up,” he said. DOD also focused on the costs of clearing 3.1-3.45 GHz, which was “never really on the table,” while CTIA proposed clearing just 3.3-3.45 GHz, he said.

Last month, DOD Chief Information Officer John Sherman suggested the department may consider whether it can relocate Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) radars from 3.3-3.45 GHz, Javed noted. “That’s where we should have been two years ago,” he said. “There is this opportunity there if we’re willing to look for it,” he added. “Sharing is never the gold standard” and DOD also wants cleared spectrum, he said. “Radar is not a sharing technology -- it operates at incredibly high power that makes [sharing] very difficult.”

The airborne AWACS radars are considered the trickiest to address among military radars in the band (see 2402090059).

Studies show that federal users make more “sporadic” use of spectrum than carriers and “that’s not to say the use isn’t important, it just means that that’s the nature of the use,” Javed said. Carriers use their spectrum much more ubiquitously, he said. The government holds 600% more mid-band spectrum than what’s available for licensed use, he said. We need to look at “how we can be more balanced” without sacrificing “federal capabilities.”

The recently released implementation plan for the strategy is important “because not much gets done in Washington without deadlines,” said Jamie Hjort, Amazon head-wireless and spectrum policy. The plan (see 2403120056) identifies all key stakeholders and the technical studies called for “are an important element needed for progress to be made,” she said.

“It’s certainly a lot to take in,” Javed said of the plan. The government will pursue 36 “outcomes” with “very specific timelines,” he said. CTIA is pleased the plan specifies what it will mean for NTIA to “co-lead” technical studies, he said. The association wants more assurance that all the work in the coming years “is going to produce actionable outcomes,” he said. Too much of the focus is on process rather than outcomes, Javed added. “Benchmarks” on how much spectrum the administration wants to clear would help, he said.

“We could do more to reduce the pull of the past and depoliticize decision-making,” Javed said. The implementation plan discusses “a values-based model” to aid how decisions are made, and it’s not clear what that means or whether it’s a “retreat from market-based principles,” he said.

Becky Tangren, NCTA vice president and associate general counsel, disagreed with Javed, saying policymakers must change how they approach spectrum. “We are running out of spectrum, and we need to make these decisions in a way that is technically sound,” she said. The way we did things in the past created current problems, she added.

“Everyone wants to use spectrum; we can just see it in our everyday lives,” Tangren said. “Consumers’ homes are all basically wireless.” NCTA sees the best path forward as unlicensed and shared spectrum. “There is a way we can serve all these multiple interests without looking at it as you take from one … and give to another,” Tangren said.

Amazon also favors sharing, which means current users don’t necessarily have to move, Hjort said. “That’s not to say we shouldn’t look at where it’s possible to reallocate,” but newer sharing frameworks can “expand access in ways that maybe weren’t contemplated over a decade ago,” she said.

Notebook

House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., called for “thoughtful debate” about utilizing limited spectrum. “What can start as a collaboration can quickly change to conflict,” she said in prerecorded remarks. “Few issues have more bearing on American innovation and national security than spectrum governance,” Matsui said. “The global race to 5 and 6G is still white-hot.” Matsui praised the administration for releasing a national spectrum strategy and a presidential memorandum on modernizing spectrum policy (see 2311130048) but said they will be a success only if everyone works together. NTIA and DOD must work closely with industry on a study of the lower 3 GHz band and decisions should be made based on the best engineering, she said. Matsui warned that the consequences of the yearlong lapse in FCC auction authority could prove “severe and far-reaching.” Matsui mentioned working with other members of Congress “to find a consensus path forward.” The issue “cannot wait.”