The Federal Communications Commission has published proposed auction rules for 24-GHz and 28-GHz spectrum intended to support mobile service. The auctions will represent an additional 1550 MHz of spectrum, more than presently allocated for all mobile operations in the United States, by a wide margin.
Among other implications, the new spectrum means the cost of acquiring spectrum, on a cost-per-MegaHertz basis, is going to fall. That also means the retail cost of using spectrum, on a cost-per-bit basis, is also going to fall.
In principle, those cost reductions also mean the value of spectrum licenses will fall, on a cost-per-MegaHertz basis.
Such cost reductions are necessary if mobile operators are to challenge fixed network services and become full product substitutes for fixed network internet access.
At the same time, all the new spectrum--especially when deployed to support 5G networks--is likely to erode the commercial possibility of “paid prioritization,” the possible offering of quality-assured consumer internet access.
The reason is simply that 5G services will have latency so low, and bandwidth so high, that the value of any “for fee” quality-assured access is going to be nearly zero.
A cynic might well conclude that most of the frenzied concern about network neutrality is political posturing. As was the case with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, policy advocates are essentially living in the past.
In the 5G era, it will be virtually impossible to argue that a quality of service tier of consumer internet access has much value, since the standard offers will be so much better than anything yet seen on mobile networks.
The same sorts of performance improvements on fixed networks likewise will erode the potential value of paid prioritization, in the consumer services realm.
Business services, as in the past, are not covered by network neutrality rules in any case, so enterprise services can take different paths. Still, the consumer grade 5G services will be difficult, if not impossible, to improve upon.
It is the universal vision that 5G, with a move to edge computing, is going to reduce application latency in ways that likewise make paid prioritization a non-viable commercial possibility.
In the 28 GHz band, the Federal Communications Commission plans to auction 425-MHz blocks of spectrum. In the 24-GHz band, licenses will be for 100-MHz blocks of spectrum.
The 28-GHz licenses will be auctioned by county, and two licenses per county will be available. That auction potentially will place 850 MHz of new spectrum into commercial use, on a nationwide basis (850 MHz in every area).
The 24-GHz licenses will be by partial economic areas, which amalgamate numerous counties. Seven licenses will be available in each 24-GHz PEA. That auction potentially will add 700 MHz of additional mobile spectrum in commercial service, on a national basis (700 MHz in each area).
That is only the beginning of the Spectrum Frontiers process that aims to free up 11 GHz of spectrum for mobile and wireless use, including 7-GHz worth of unlicensed spectrum.
new millimeter wave spectrum
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