Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai shared draft rules that would reform the use of the C-band and make a large amount of spectrum available for 5G, the next generation of wireless technology. The C-band is a 500-megahertz segment of spectrum from 3.7 to 4.2 GHz, which is now mostly used by fixed satellite companies to beam content to video and audio broadcasters, cable systems, and other content distributors. However, satellite companies don’t need the entire C-band to provide the services they are providing today. They can provide the same services with less bandwidth, which would free up a significant amount of spectrum for 5G.

Chairman Pai’s draft rules would make the lower 280 megahertz of the C-band available for flexible use, including 5G, through a public auction. Existing satellite operations would be repacked into the upper 200 megahertz of the band with relocation costs covered. This strikes the appropriate balance between making available critical mid-band spectrum for 5G and protecting incumbent uses. This would be the FCC’s most significant action yet to repurpose mid-band airwaves and would represent a critical step toward securing US leadership in 5G. It would quickly free up a significant amount of spectrum for next-generation wireless services, and it would generate significant revenue for the US Treasury. The full FCC will vote on this Report and Order on Feb 28, 2020 at the FCC’s Open Meeting.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai shared with his fellow Commissioners draft rules that would reform the use of the C-band and make a large amount of spectrum available for 5G, the next generation of wireless technology. The full Commission will vote on this Report and Order on Feb 28, 2020 at the FCC’s Open Meeting

FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly: “After years of leading the charge to open up the C-band, I am incredibly excited an order has been circulated, thanks to the leadership of Chairman Pai, that will make a portion of this valuable spectrum available for nextgeneration wireless networks. This key band is by far the most ideal mid-band spectrum in the U.S. for new advanced services, especially 5G. Although I still need to review the particulars, it appears to be consistent with the principles that I set forth a while ago and worked hard with appropriate parties to secure, and I intend to support it. Freeing the 280 MHz of spectrum, while protecting existing systems and remaining users, was my highest priority and where I successfully focused most of my effort. Much time and attention has been spent on the appropriate incentive payment for the satellite providers, and I am pleased that an agreement was reached that should allow them to fully and voluntarily participate in this transition. As I have always said, the satellite providers’ cooperation will be absolutely necessary for a speedy and successful reallocation, and I thank the Chairman for making this possible and for considering this item at the February meeting. Sticking to the announced auction date this December and conducting it on time will be paramount.”

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr: “This morning’s announcement is another big win for American leadership in 5G. It means even more mid-band spectrum will power American 5G, the American taxpayer will see billions of dollars of revenue, and the C-Band services that Americans rely on will be protected. It is a rare win-win-win in Washington, and I am proud to strongly support it. Unlocking the C-Band’s potential has been one of the most challenging public policy puzzles to solve that I’ve seen in my time on the FCC. Chairman Pai and his team deserve tremendous credit for where we are today. It’s the right decision, and he should be praised for our action."

The C-Band Alliance: “The imminent issuance of the draft order reflects the tireless efforts of many over the past several years to ensure that this critical spectrum comes to market safely, quickly, and efficiently. Today’s comments by Chairman Pai are a significant development in this important proceeding. We look forward to reviewing the draft order, once issued, to place Chairman Pai’s comments in full context.”

AT&T: “We are encouraged that the FCC is taking the next critical step toward making this valuable mid-band spectrum available for mobile flexible use, while at the same time recognizing the critical need to have an orderly and timely transition in place to protect the content programming ecosystem currently relying on C-Band and impacting over 100 million U.S. households.  We look forward to reviewing the details of the draft order and working with all stakeholders to ensure that both the auction and the transition are a success.”

Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg: "Today is a monumental day in our nation’s efforts to maintain wireless leadership in 5G. Chairman Pai’s historic announcement sets forth a bold vision for bringing much needed mid-band spectrum to auction this year. Most importantly, his plan ensures that this critical spectrum is not only auctioned quickly, but cleared on an accelerated basis. This speedy transition will undoubtedly ensure that the US will preserve its global leadership in 5G and will produce hundreds of billions of dollars in economic benefits for the country."

USTelecom released its Industry Metrics and Trends 2020 report highlighting key elements of the broadband boom and investment story. USTelecom will weigh in soon explaining why the Federal Communications Commission should no longer mandate so-called network unbundling, a relic from a different (and far less competitive) era. Key highlights from the USTelecom Industry Metrics and Trends 2020:

Consumers and providers have made the transition from legacy voice to broadband and mobile communications services.

• A projected 84 percent of American households (109 million households) will subscribe to fixed broadband by the end of 2020.
• Wireless will account for 79 percent of voice connections by 2020 while traditional phone lines will account for 4 percent.
• Six percent of U.S. households will use traditional telephone lines at the end of 2020 while 65 percent will be wireless-only and 29 percent Internet-based voice service, mostly from cable operators.
• Traditional switched telephone subscriptions fell from a peak of 186 million in 2000 to a projected 24 million in 2020.

Nearly all Americans have networks available to them, and providers have deployed increasingly fast broadband services.

• As of mid-2018, 98.6 percent of Americans have access to a fixed network; 99.8 percent have access to a mobile network; and satellite is available to nearly all consumers.
• As of mid-2018, 94 percent of Americans could get fixed broadband at 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload (25/3 Mbps) or greater; 90 percent at 100/10 Mbps or greater; and more than two-thirds (and growing) at near-gigabit speeds.

Competition and technological innovation define the broadband communications industry.

• Two or more fixed networks are available to 91 percent of Americans and two or more wired networks are available to 86 percent of Americans. The numbers are even higher in urban areas, where USTelecom analysis shows that 97 percent have a choice of two or more fixed networks.
• Three or more mobile networks are available to 98 percent of Americans.
• The portion of Americans that could choose from two or more wired broadband networks at 10/1 Mbps or greater grew from 53 percent of Americans in 2012 to 72 percent as of mid-2018.
• The portion of Americans that could choose from two or more wired broadband networks at 25/3 Mbps or greater grew from 23 percent of Americans in 2012 to 59 percent as of mid-2018.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to spin out and pursue a public offering of its budding space-internet business Starlink, giving investors a chance to buy into one of the most promising operations within the closely held company. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has already launched more than 240 satellites to build out Starlink, which will start delivering internet services to customers from space this summer, President Gwynne Shotwell said. “Right now, we are a private company, but Starlink is the right kind of business that we can go ahead and take public,” said Shotwell, SpaceX’s chief operating officer. “That particular piece is an element of the business that we are likely to spin out and go public.” Starlink would beam down relatively high-speed data from its network of satellites orbiting the Earth.

The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Modernization Act, enacted in 2016, required the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in consultation and coordination with Federal Communications Commission, to enhance and test the capabilities of IPAWS and increase its adoption among state and local public safety agencies. GAO was asked to review the federal response to recent natural disasters. This report examines, among other things: (1) trends in the use of IPAWS and (2) actions that FEMA and FCC have taken to modernize IPAWS and increase its adoption.

GAO found that FEMA has begun to modernize alerting capabilities with help from the FCC. However, some state and local public safety agencies cannot access the system and others have low confidence in using it. Also, without goals and performance measures for improvements made to wireless emergency alerts, the FCC can’t ensure the system is working as intended.

GAO is making three recommendations:

1. The Chairman of FCC should develop specific, measurable goals and performance measures for its efforts to monitor the performance of new Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) capabilities, such as enhanced geo-targeting and expanded alert message length.
2. The Director of the IPAWS program should document how it plans to address key actions needed to educate alerting authorities in their use of IPAWS and implement a mechanism that will allow FEMA to regularly and systematically obtain and analyze feedback on alerting authorities' educational needs
3. The Director of the IPAWS program should establish procedures to prioritize pending IPAWS applications and to follow up with applicants to address these applications