Spectrum

Federal Communications Chairman Ajit Pai identified telemedicine as the industry he is most excited about as a result of the upcoming availability of 1200 megahertz of unlicensed spectrum.  Telehealth “can be a gamechanger,” and he can see the opening of 1200 MHz of unlicensed spectrum giving rise to a future of “Wi-Fi-enabled telehealth,” said Chairman Pai. In addition to telehealth, Pai also mentioned augmented reality gaming, virtual reality and warehouse optimization as important beneficiaries of opening spectrum.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai issued the following statement on President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Establishing the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the USTelecommunications Services Sector: “I applaud the President for formalizing Team Telecom review and establishing a process that will allow the Executive Branch to provide its expert input to the FCC in a timely manner. Now that this Executive Order has been issued, the FCC will move forward to conclude our own pending rulemaking on reform of the foreign ownership review process.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is taking steps to boost Wi-Fi across the country. He proposed to make 1,200 megahertz of the 6 GHz mid-band spectrum available for unlicensed use. This will effectively increase Wi-Fi spectrum capacity by a factor of five, enabling more inter-operable 5G devices such as smart appliances not to mention faster speeds so Americans can do more things online.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 23, 2020:

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai circulated draft rules permitting unlicensed devices to operate in the 6 GHz band. The proposed rules would make 1,200 megahertz of spectrum available for unlicensed use. Unlicensed devices would share this spectrum with incumbent licensed services under rules that are crafted to protect those licensed services and to enable both unlicensed and licensed operations to thrive throughout the band. The Chairman’s draft rules will be voted on by the FCC at its April 23 Open Meeting.

As we continue our important work directly related to COVID-19, the Federal Communications Commission will also continue our work confronting the longer-term challenges that have been highlighted by pandemic. In particular, at our upcoming meeting on April 23, we will be voting on major initiatives to expand wireless connectivity and further close the digital divide.

T-Mobile closed its takeover of Sprint after a nearly two-year battle with federal and state authorities. The merger, worth about $31.8 billion based on T-Mobile’s closing stock price March 31, marks the end for Sprint as a company and a brand. The once-thriving network operator spent most of the past decade losing customers after a string of engineering and marketing missteps gave the upper hand to rivals, T-Mobile chief among them. The combination turns the US’ third and fourth-largest wireless carriers into a far more substantial third place competitor to Verizon and AT&T.

The Federal Communications Commission has granted an emergency Special Temporary Authority request filed by A:shiwi College & Career Readiness Center to use unassigned 2.5 GHz spectrum to provide wireless broadband service over the reservation of the Pueblo of Zuni in New Mexico in light of increased demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The A:shiwi College and Career Readiness Center, formerly the University of New Mexico Gallup-Zuni Campus, was established by the Zuni Tribe in 2016.

The Federal Communications Commission granted temporary spectrum access to 33 wireless Internet service providers serving 330 counties in 29 states to help them serve rural communities facing an increase in broadband needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Special Temporary Authority (STA) allows these companies to use the lower 45 megahertz of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for 60 days.