US official overseeing country’s frequency strategy has resigned

David Redl, heading National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), responsible for the US’ strategy on frequency and 5G, abruptly resigned from his post.

The circumstances of his resignation were not disclosed, but the Wall Street Journal reported that Redl has had conflicts with other political appointees at the current administration, including officials at the FCC. Redl, together with the Commerce Secretary, was tasked by President Trump to develop the country’s “National Spectrum Strategy” last October.

A few days before his resignation, Redl used his speech at Satellite Industry Association’s annual dinner to voice his concerns. “We don’t have to choose between making more spectrum available for the private sector and sustaining our critical government systems. We also don’t have to choose between terrestrial 5G and satellite services,” Redl said on that occasion. “To start with, satellite will play an important role in 5G connectivity, but perhaps more to the point these uses are not mutually exclusive; it’s just going to take hard work for them to continue to coexist in a more contentious spectrum environment.”

Meanwhile, FCC would not wait to have the “comprehensive, balanced and forward-looking” spectrum strategy in place before it pressed ahead with the auction of the mmWave frequencies, including the 24GHz and 37GHz bands that are also being coveted by the satellite industry. “I can’t recall ever in the past watching two different arms of an administration get into this kind of public disagreements,” FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel commented.

In other cases, Redl’s opinions often carried a lot of weight in FCC’s decision making. Before the decision was taken to deny China Mobile the operation licence, Redl’s earlier note had already set the tone. Ajit Pai, the FCC Chairman, in his statement called Redl “a longtime colleague, who served with distinction during his 18 months at NTIA.  He was a vocal advocate within the Department of Commerce for repurposing federal spectrum for commercial use and fostering the private sector’s lead in 5G deployment.  I thank David for his service and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

It may or may not be related, but Redl’s resignation also coincided with fresh pressure from the US on the UK to join the alliance to ban Huawei from the country’s 5G networks. The DC-based news outlet The Hill reported that Diane Rinaldo, Redl’s former deputy, would be taking over as acting administrator.