FCC Expected to Seek Comment in August on Future of 37 GHz Band

The Biden administration appears headed toward a coordination and licensing framework in the lower 37 GHz band, one of five targeted for further study in the administration’s national spectrum strategy (see 2311130048). Analysts told us wireless carriers likely have little interest in seeing the band set aside for licensed use, unlike some other bands the administration is studying, especially lower 3 GHz and 7/8 GHz. The FCC will probably seek comment on 37 GHz in a public notice “on or about” Aug. 6, NTIA said in a recent blog.

The big three carriers, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, have “deep holdings” of millimeter-wave spectrum, MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett said. “You need high density of cellsites” to deploy high-band “whether you like it or not,” he added: “That being the case, and with applications for mmWave still somewhat limited, there doesn’t seem to be a huge groundswell of demand for more.”

Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner also doesn’t see much carrier interest. The spectrum is “really hard to deploy,” he said. The FCC sold licenses for the upper part of the 37 GHz band, along with two other mmWave bands, in an auction that ended in 2020 (see 2003120054). It was the FCC’s third high-band auction.

In a filing posted Wednesday, a diverse group of parties urged a hybrid approach in the lower 37 and 42 GHz bands. The filing, in docket 23-158, was based on a meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and staff for the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology. Charter Communications, Federated Wireless, New America, Qualcomm and the Wireless ISP Association made the filing.

They propose a “non-exclusive, non-auctioned licensed framework together with frequency management by one or more Commission-certified dynamic spectrum management systems (DSMSs) to enable a wide range of users and use cases on a technology neutral basis.” That approach would “enable protection of federal users in the 37 GHz band while reducing coordination requirements and enabling efficient assignment, maximum spectrum usage, and reliable enforcement for both bands, while also providing flexibility for a variety of new wireless broadband services,” the filing said.

Details of the DSMS management process should be developed and standardized by a multistakeholder group, it added.

A year ago, the FCC sought comment on different approaches to future use of the 42 GHz band (see 2306080042). Many commenters urged a nonexclusive licensing approach for it and the lower 37 GHz band (see 2310020041).

NTIA noted in the blog post “prior collaborative efforts regarding the future of this band that occurred during previous stages of an ongoing FCC rulemaking.” The agency is coordinating with FCC and DOD on a sharing framework, “including coordination and licensing,” and the report “contemplated by” the national spectrum strategy implementation plan. The shared goal is to provide “a full opportunity for public input without inefficient duplication, thereby easing burdens on agencies and stakeholders alike,” NTIA said.

“Private-sector stakeholders and other interested parties wishing to present information to the working group should submit their contributions on the FCC record in response to the Public Notice,” NTIA said: DOD “will conduct informal outreach to the Defense Industrial Base as needed.”

Rosenworcel appears to favor a common coordination framework for the lower 37 and 42 GHz bands, an industry official in the proceeding said. That would make it easier to “accommodate some form of prioritization” in 37-37.6 GHz “for federal users, particularly DOD,” the official added.