The FCC has adopted new rules for wireless broadband operations in frequencies above 24 GHz, making the United States the first country in the world to make this spectrum available for next generation wireless services. Building on the successful, flexible approach to spectrum policy that enabled the explosion of 4G (LTE), these rules set a strong foundation for the rapid advancement to next-generation 5G networks and technologies in the United States.
This high-frequency spectrum will support innovative new use cases enabled by fiber-fast wireless speeds and extremely low latency. While 5G technologies are still under development, this action by the Commission to put rules in place will provide vital clarity for business investment in this area.
These new rules open up nearly 11 GHz of high-frequency spectrum for flexible, mobile and fixed use wireless broadband – 3.85 GHz of licensed spectrum and 7 GHz of unlicensed spectrum. The rules create a new Upper Microwave flexible use service in the 28 GHz (27.5-28.35 GHz), 37 GHz (37-38.6 GHz), and 39 GHz (38.6-40 GHz) bands, and a new unlicensed band from 64 to 71 GHz.
These new rules balance different spectrum access approaches, including the use of licensing, shared access, and unlicensed access, in order to meet a variety of different needs and use cases. The Commission has also adopted other flexible service and technical rules to allow new technologies and innovations to evolve and flourish without needlessly prescriptive regulations.
The FCC has struck a balance between new wireless services, current and future fixed satellite service operations, and federal uses. The item adopts effective sharing schemes to ensure that diverse users–including federal and non-federal, satellite and terrestrial, and fixed and mobile–can co-exist and expand.
The Commission also adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), which seeks comment on several issues. The FNPRM seeks to apply the flexible use service and technical rules adopted today to another 18 GHz of spectrum encompassing 8 additional high-frequency bands, and seeks comment on a variety of other issues, including refinements to the performance requirements and mobile spectrum holdings policies, and the sharing framework adopted for the 37-37.6 GHz band.
With the adoption of these rules, they have created a runway for U.S. companies to launch the technologies that will harness 5G’s fiber-fast capabilities.
Tom Wheeler, the Chairman of the FCC said that 5G is a national priority. The interconnected world of the future will be the result of decisions we make today.
"Fifth-generation, or 5G, connectivity will likely be more than an incremental evolutionary step forward in wireless technology. It promises quantum leaps forward in three key areas: speeds resembling fiber that are at least 10 times and maybe 100-times faster than today’s 4G LTE networks; responsiveness less than one-thousandth of a second, which enables real-time communication; and network capacity multiples of what is available today."
"Coupling this ultra-fast, low-latency, high-capacity connectivity with the almost unlimited processing power of the cloud will enable super fast wireless broadband, smart-city energy grids and water systems, immersive education and entertainment, and an unknowable number of innovations. In a 5G world, the Internet of Everything will be fully realized; everything that can be connected will be connected. Most important, 5G will enable killer applications yet to be imagined. "
"Opening up spectrum and offering flexibility to operators and innovators is the most important thing we can do to enable the 5G revolution, but it’s not the only thing. We also needed to work out sharing issues between terrestrial and satellite operators. Sharing is essential for the future of spectrum utilization. Many of the high-frequency bands we are making available for 5G currently have some satellite users, or at least the possibility of future satellite users. Our rules strike a balance that offers flexibility for satellite users to expand, while providing terrestrial licensees with predictability about the areas in which satellite will locate."
