FCC Looks at Reallocation or Shared Use of 2.5 GHz and 5.9 GHz Spectrum

As the U.S. Federal Communications Commission looks possibly to reallocate access to blocks of spectrum in the 2.5 GHz and 5.9 GHz bands that earlier were allocated to specific users and use cases, we are reminded that rights to use spectrum lie at the heart of every business model, and every industry, that builds on rights to use spectrum.

And, as always, perceived private interests exist whenever spectrum policy is weighed. In this case, 5G and Wi-Fi would be winners; educational TV and a specific protocol for auto communications will be the losers.

Scarce resources always drive issues around highest and best use.

As with real estate taxation, where land is taxed at the rate reflecting the “best” or “highest” economic value, so thinking on spectrum now follows a somewhat similar principle, as the FCC continues to shift thinking from “use case specific” allocations to “use case independent” principles.

Federal Communications Commission member Rebecca Rosenworcel now argues that the agency take another look at use of blocks of spectrum that were in the past allocated for purposes that arguably are not the “highest and best use.”

In 1999, the FCC set aside 75 megahertz of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for dedicated short range communications, or DSRC. DSRC was designed for cars to talk to each other in real time to help reduce accidents.

“But in the nearly twenty years since the FCC allocated this spectrum, that really hasn’t happened,” she argues. “Today, autonomous vehicles have moved beyond DSRC to get around and communicate, whether that’s with radar, LIDAR, cameras, sensors, on-board mapping tools, or cellular and Wi-Fi networks.”

“Our bet on DSRC didn’t pan out the way we thought it would,” she said. Instead, she argues, the 5.9 GHz band is “the ideal place to explore Wi-Fi expansion.”

“There is no shame in correcting course,” she said. “And I think it’s time to be ambitious and find a way forward that puts the 5.9 GHz band to fuller use.”

The other area Rosenworcel wants to reexamine is the 2.5 GHz Instructional Fixed Television Service, or ITFS. “Like with the 5.9 GHz band, there’s no shame in admitting the 2.5 GHz band has not lived up to its potential.”