The White House just released its National Spectrum Strategy, and it couldn’t be more timely. The 5G war continues and there are many concerns about the US position towards China.
Given that we are in the middle of the World Radio Conference (an international conference to decide how to build global 5G networks), where do we stand in terms of spectrum allocation? We need to assess what needs to be done to secure an advantageous position in the competition for spectrum allocation. 5G will become increasingly important.
For those unfamiliar, you can read this article on your mobile device thanks to Spectrum. It’s the invisible real estate that will enable 5G networks to move services like self-driving cars, precision agriculture, and even artificial intelligence from science fiction to today’s reality.
In no uncertain terms, there is no mobile revolution without spectrum. Think about all the devices that rely on wireless networks. Smartphones, laptops, smartwatches, Fitbits, and Airtags are just a few of the products that take advantage of the spectrum. It cannot function without spectrum.
And for nearly a decade, we’ve dominated the race to 5G. We did so because we made 5G a national priority and coordinated interagency efforts to build 5G networks. And it worked. By 2020, we led the world in sourcing and distributing 5G speeds and valuable spectrum.
America is in a year of rebuilding
If we were an NFL team, tom brady’s New England Patriots.
But just like the Patriots’ 2023 season, we are in a rebuilding year. There is no new high-power midband spectrum in the pipeline, and some of the available spectrum is being bogged down in unnecessary government-to-government fighting.
Even if they could, it would be incredibly difficult to bring spectrum to market quickly because Congress has allowed the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction authority to expire. This had never happened since Congress authorized it in the 1990s. The revocation of this authority has not only stalled bringing new spectrum to market, but also prevented the FCC from releasing his nearly 8,000 licenses for valuable 2.5 gigahertz (GHz) mid-band spectrum that it purchased last year. .
By conservative estimates, 5G should be able to support data transmission for one million devices every third of a mile. And within two years, 41.6 billion devices are expected to be online. Our networks can’t handle that onslaught.
Additionally, the advent of AI will require more data to be transmitted over 5G networks, which will inevitably put a strain on them. Without replenishing the spectrum pipeline, data-driven applications like AI will become a pipe dream for the United States.
Even worse, this opens the door for China to accelerate the pace of 5G and 6G. A lot of what China is doing in terms of spectrum and deployment is positioning itself to win in 6G. how? Because 6G is built on top of 5G, just like 5G is built on top of his 4G/LTE. Therefore, if China wins here, a 6G network will be built on top of the 5G foundation.
We need to keep up the pace.
US is constrained by lack of spectrum auction authority
But the problem is that there are limits to what governments can do to open up new bands and bring spectrum to market quickly.
For example, the FCC has repeatedly said it will not release spectrum it has already put up for auction, particularly the 2.5GHz band, unless its auction authority is reauthorized.
But do you know which government departments are not constrained? Conferences.
And there is good news in this regard. senator john kennedy The 5G Spectrum Station License Enforcement (SALE) Act passed a roll call vote unanimously in the Senate. The SALE Act allows the FCC to proceed with the release of these 8,000 2.5GHz licenses, which will allow T-Mobile to enhance its existing 5G network. This action alone will increase competition in 5G services and inevitably lower prices for consumers.
But we have to do more than that.
With the National Spectrum Strategy, the administration gave Congress a path to turn around our franchise. Government plans have identified the lower 3 GHz and 7-8 GHz bands as prime candidates for a strong pipeline of spectrum for the private sector. This band was identified by Congress itself in last year’s bipartisan draft of the Spectrum Innovation Act.
Even better, this strategy does not preclude consideration of less controversial mid-band spectrum, particularly bands that build on mid-band spectrum that already exists on the market, such as the 4.4-4.9 GHz range. This spectrum can be used to create a more contiguous band of 5G mid-band spectrum to handle the massive data transmissions from AI.
Finally, to bring this spectrum to market quickly, Congress should reauthorize the FCC’s spectrum auction authority.
Just as the Patriots won’t make the playoffs, they won’t be auctioning off new spectrum next year, but they could use this as an opportunity to rebuild and strengthen their networks. Congress has an obligation to act quickly because China continues to build while we twist our thumbs.
Joel Thayer is president of the Digital Progress Institute and an attorney based in Washington, DC. The Digital Progress Institute is a nonprofit organization that seeks to bridge the policy gap between telecommunications and technology through bipartisan agreement. This piece is Broadband His Breakfast Limited.
Broadband Breakfast welcomes comments from knowledgeable observers of the broadband scene.Please send your work to commentary@breakfast.media. The views expressed in expert opinion articles do not necessarily reflect the views of Broadband Breakfast and Breakfast Media LLC.
