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Free the Bandwidth: FCC Opens Access to 3.5GHz Spectrum

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Free the Bandwidth: FCC Opens Access to 3.5GHz Spectrum

 
April 23, 2015

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  By Tara Seals, TMCnet Contributor
 


The Federal Communications Commission is planning to open up access to airwaves that were previously reserved strictly for military use and other government operations, in the 3.5GHz band. The idea is to create more capacity for advanced wireless services.


"Since they don’t make spectrum anymore, and since spectrum is the pathway of the 21st century, we have to figure out how we’re going to live with a fixed amount," said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (News - Alert). "Sharing is key to that."

The idea is to implement a three-tier plan to ensure no interference with existing incumbent users, known as the Citizens Broadband Radio Service. The top tier of the band will be reserved for the federal government and other existing users, who will, along with (surprise!) the Defense Department be guaranteed protection from interference. In the middle tier, the FCC (News - Alert) will auction off short-duration licenses to commercial companies. And at the bottom will be the General Authorized Access tier, which will be thrown open for use as unlicensed spectrum, much like Wi-Fi, open to enterprising device manufacturers and others without further approval from the FCC.

The plan “is setting a new paradigm for how spectrum sharing should work,” Wheeler said.

The move will open frequencies from 3550MHz to 3700MHz to non-government users. These are frequencies that don’t have good indoor propagation characteristics nor do they have long-distance capabilities. So, the application, at least at first, will be focused on supporting small cell deployments and hotspot backhaul.

Industry groups praised the move.

“The spectrum crunch remains very real and the FCC’s action represents significant progress towards opening more spectrum for broadband,” Telecommunications Industry Associations chief executive Scott Belcher said in a statement.

The Wireless Innovation (News - Alert) Forum was similarly pleased.

“We welcome this announcement and look forward to reviewing the rules once they are published in the Federal Register,” said Bruce Oberlies of Motorola (News - Alert) Solutions, chair of the WIF. “Our Spectrum Sharing Committee members have been working hard to lay the groundwork for successful advancement of commercial deployment and incumbent protection in the 3.5 GHz band. The Forum members are excited to see this continue to move forward with the Commission’s leadership.”

On April 17, the FCC also said it had voted to propose a notice seeking public comment on competitive bidding practices and rules in auctions of airwaves to go along with the move.

 
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