CBRS Paired With Unlicensed Use of 6 GHz Band at October Commissioners' Meeting

CBRS rules have been controversial, with some carriers seeking larger geographic sizes for the priority access licenses than dictated in Obama-era rules. Wireless ISPs, public interest groups, big industrial players and others want the census tracts in the earlier rules. Pai tasked Commissioner Mike O’Rielly with crafting new rules. O’Rielly won’t commit to licenses as small as census tracts for the PALs and has questioned whether the FCC can auction half a million PALs with its software (see 1807250055).

The rewrite makes “targeted changes to our rules to promote investment and innovation,” Pai wrote. “By allowing providers to renew 3.5 GHz licenses, we will substantially increase their incentives to deploy 5G networks using this spectrum.” A 2017 inquiry was on how to expand unlicensed use in the 6 GHz band, Pai blogged. “Based on this study, I’m proposing new rules allowing unlicensed devices to use this band. My proposal would promote efficient use of spectrum that may otherwise not be used at all -- and it could make over 1 gigahertz of new unlicensed spectrum available.”

"We are glad that the commission is taking up [CBRS] and we hope that the proposal will be a step forward, not backward, for rural broadband deployment,” said Claude Aiken, president of the Wireless ISP Association. “It’s encouraging to see the FCC focused on mid-band spectrum,” said Scott Bergmann, CTIA senior vice president-regulatory affairs. “By making tailored changes to promote investment in this band, the FCC has the opportunity to address our mid-band spectrum deficit and help America secure global leadership in 5G

“Chairman Pai is delivering on his fast-track goal to free up grossly underutilized mid-band spectrum to make broadband faster and more affordable,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, of the 6 GHz rules. “Particularly important is his confirmation that the commission will consider authorizing unlicensed use of available spectrum across most or all of the 5925-to-7125 GHz bands, a move that will ensure gigabit-fast Wi-Fi will keep pace as a critical component of America’s 5G wireless ecosystem.”

Pai pitched a draft on model-based RLEC business data services as promoting 5G backhaul. "This order would enable rural companies to take resources currently wasted on regulatory compliance and devote them to building stronger networks and delivering better services," he said. "Wireless networks of the future will rely on these high-capacity broadband connections for 'backhaul,' which essentially means the wires that carry traffic from a wireless small cell or tower back to the core of a network." Telco trade groups agreed on a "consensus" rural carrier USF budget proposal (see 1810010045).

An NPRM on cable rate regulation will explore “whether to fundamentally change the FCC’s decades-old cable rate regulatory scheme,” Pai wrote. Current rules apply to a small number of cable systems, he said. “Yet, we have pages and pages of rate regulation rules on the books that are inordinately complicated and characterized by complex rate regulation forms.” The current cable rate regulation rules affect mainly larger carriers, and the more active local franchise authorities are likely to weigh in on this issue, a cable attorney said.

The second modernization item is an order to eliminate rules requiring broadcasters to submit to the FCC paper hard copies of certain contracts. With broadcasters now both covered by online public file rules, “it no longer makes sense to mandate that broadcasters send hard copies,” Pai said. Broadcasters are seen as supportive of the idea, though only public TV groups bothered to file in favor of the proposal (see 1803220045) during the comment phase. It's widely seen as a minor issue, broadcast attorneys told us. The American Cable Association, Communications Workers of America and Common Cause argued then the FCC should require the contracts to be included in broadcaster online public files if the hard copy requirement is eliminated.

Pai said industry has struggled for too long with "arcane rules for narrowband," or PLMR, services. "Companies have to request waivers to take advantage of new, more efficient technology and repurpose gaps in frequencies that are going unused," he said. "We’re taking steps to enable more intensive use of this workhorse spectrum on which first responders, state and local governments, large and small businesses, electric utilities, transportation providers, the medical community, and many others depend." The item would eliminate unnecessary restrictions, boost capacity "by making way for new 'interstitial' channels," and end "an outdated 'freeze' on spectrum sharing" dating to 1995.