US spectrum plan eases frequency frustrations… to an extent

But while the strategy comes as great news for those in the industry that have been lobbying for spectrum repurposing, it’s important to note that it really is just a first step. The frequencies in question, across five bands, will be studied for potential new uses, and the study could go either way. The next step will see the Biden-Harris administration develop and publish an Implementation Plan to carry out the strategy.

Nonetheless, this is significant step forward. In fact, the biggest news here is arguably that there is a spectrum strategy at all.

Previous president Donald Trump gave the go-ahead for the development of a spectrum strategy, with 5G and beyond in mind, as long ago as 2018, having pulled the plug on policies developed by the previous administration. But nothing ever materialised. Hence the buzz around this week’s announcement.

The strategy was developed by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), working with the FCC and the Executive Branch agencies that rely on spectrum for their missions. It is accompanied by a Presidential Memorandum designed to establish a spectrum policy and process for resolving spectrum-related conflicts.

That last point is particularly pertinent, given that the roll out of 5G services in the US was dogged by a lengthy battle between the mobile operators and the aviation industry over the possibility of interference.

In total the strategy identifies 2,786 MHz of frequencies for in-depth study designed to determine their suitability for potential new uses; that’s well above the 1,500 MHz the NTIA had originally aimed for, the government reminds us. It includes over 1,600 MHz of midband spectrum that could be particularly useful for the mobile industry.

The NTIA will study the following bands, noting that the spectrum could support a range of uses, including mobile broadband, drones and satellite operations:

It has pledged to complete its study within two years.

Reaction from the industry has been broadly supportive, while also recognising that the publication of the strategy is just the beginning of the journey.

“It is a critical first step, and we fully support their goal of making the 7/8 GHz band available for 5G wireless broadband and their decision to re-study all options for future full-power commercial access to the lower 3 GHz band,” said Meredith Attwell Baker, president and CEO of industry body the CTIA.

The body has been one of a number of industry voices calling for the use of the lower 3 GHz band, which is currently occupied by the military, for 5G services. Numerous studies have suggested that the two could coexist.

It has also been one of many to play the China card, with regard to making more spectrum available for mobile.

“In order to meet growing consumer demand for 5G, close America’s widening 5G spectrum deficit and counter China’s global ambitions, America’s wireless networks need 1500 MHz of additional full power, licensed spectrum within the next ten years. Failure to make this spectrum available risks America’s economic competitiveness and national security,” Attwell Baker said.

“The plan released today will secure our digital future by eliminating the structural problems that hold back U.S. wireless innovation,” added Harold Feld, senior vice president of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge.

“For six years, the United States has lacked a comprehensive spectrum strategy,” he said. “This lack of a national plan has created increasing tensions between the FCC’s efforts to meet our ever-expanding need for wireless capacity and federal agencies trying to carry out vital missions from weather forecasting to national security. These tensions, in turn, have compromised our ability to develop new wireless technologies and undermined our ability to maintain global leadership.”

You would be hard pushed to claim that the publication of the National Spectrum Strategy will ease all of those tensions. But it’s certainly a start.