National spectrum strategy identifies five bands totaling nearly 2,800 megahertz, with emphasis on the midband
The Biden administration has proposed a long-awaited spectrum pipeline of five candidate bands for near-term study and development, totaling 2,786 megahertz with an emphasis on midband spectrum and bolstering technology for dynamic sharing of spectrum.
The administration yesterday released its National Spectrum Strategy document, which outlined both the bands as well as plans to “modernize spectrum policy and make the most efficient use possible of this vital national resource” and “expand access to advanced wireless broadband networks and technologies, whether terrestrial-, airspace-, satellite- or space-based, for all Americans.”
“In today’s increasingly congested environment, there are no easy spectrum allocation choices. The Nation must have forward-looking, robust decision-making based on a full understanding of the operational impacts of allocation decisions, including the risks and benefits of additional spectrum access. … Simply put, the United States needs a better and more consistent process for bringing the public and private sectors together to work through the difficult issues surrounding access to spectrum, including dynamic forms of spectrum sharing,” the spectrum strategy document said.
The candidate bands range 3.1 GHz to 37.6 GHz, with all but one of them under 20 GHz, and are a mix of federal bands and shared federal/non-federal bands. They will be studied “for a variety of uses, including terrestrial wireless broadband, innovative space services, and unmanned aviation and other autonomous vehicle operations,” according to the strategy document.
Those five bands are:
-The lower 3 GHz band from 3.1-3.45 GHz, the next slice of spectrum below the 3.45-3.55 GHz band that has already been auctioned. This 350-megahertz chunk of spectrum was identified in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, and the Department of Defense has been studying it under the auspices of the Emerging Mid-band Radar Spectrum Study (EMBRSS) and “determined that sharing is feasible if certain advanced interference mitigation features and a coordination framework to facilitate spectrum sharing are put in place. … Additional studies will explore dynamic spectrum sharing and other opportunities for private-sector access in the band, while ensuring DoD and other Federal mission capabilities are preserved, with any necessary changes.”
-5.030-5.091 GHz. This band is expected to be authorized in the short term for “limited deployment” of unmanned aerial systems, or drones, and then studied for additional optimization and incumbent protections that would enable more sharing with UAS across the full 61 megahertz.
-7.125-8.4 GHz. This is a 1,275 megahertz swath of spectrum that will be studied for wireless broadband, either licensed or unlicensed, and “some sub-bands eventually may be studied for other uses,” the strategy document said, but warned, “There are, however, a variety of mission-critical Federal operations in this band (including Fixed, Fixed Satellite, Mobile, Mobile Satellite, Space Research, Earth Exploration Satellite, and Meteorological Satellite services) that will make it challenging to repurpose portions of the band while protecting incumbent users from harmful interference.”
-18.1-18.6 GHz. This 500 megahertz of spectrum is set to be studied for expansion of both federal and non-federal satellite operations, including adding space-to-space allocations. It is currently authorized in part for Fixed Satellite Service downlink operations.
-37.0-37.6 GHz is a 600-megahertz slice of spectrum that will be studied “to implement a co-equal, shared-use framework allowing Federal and non-Federal users to deploy operations in the band.”
“The United States must now invest time and resources into studying spectrum bands that are more encumbered and complex than in the past,” the strategy acknowledges.
Wireless industry observers hoping for more terrestrial wireless spectrum and particularly, full-power, exclusive-use spectrum, may be disappointed. The report makes clear both that spectrum is increasingly crucial to everything from national security to economic growth and technological leadership, and consideration on a national level has to be given to not only terrestrial mobile networks but to space development and spectrum for specific uses like drones and automobiles—and that spectrum is a finite resource for which there is more and more competition. It also declares that “Evolving to a ‘designed to share whenever feasible’ mindset will accelerate efficient and effective use of spectrum for all users” and says that NTIA will pursue “development of an enduring, scalable mechanism to manage shared spectrum access, including through the development of a common spectrum management platform.”
The strategy also lays out a “moonshot” effort, to take place within 12-18 months, to advance the “state of technology for spectrum access, with an emphasis on dynamic forms of sharing.” In collaboration with industry, the federal government will pursue the advancement of an ecosystem with “an emphasis on dynamic forms of spectrum sharing for all users”, including a national testbed for dynamic spectrum sharing.
CTIA President and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker praised the National Spectrum Strategy as a “critical first step,” continuing, “We fully support their goal of making the 7/8 GHz band available for 5G wireless broadband and their decision to re-study all options for future full-power commercial access to the lower 3 GHz band.” She went on to add, “In order to meet growing consumer demand for 5G, close America’s widening 5G spectrum deficit and counter China’s global ambitions, America’s wireless networks need 1500 MHz of additional full power, licensed spectrum within the next ten years. Failure to make this spectrum available risks America’s economic competitiveness and national security.”
Michael Calabrese, director for Wireless Future at the Open Technology Institute at New America, said that his organization was “particularly pleased to see that a key pillar of the strategy is a more collaborative planning process and new technologies aimed at facilitating dynamic spectrum sharing in underutilized bands where it is feasible.
“The next generation of Wi-Fi will rely on further extending open public access to unlicensed spectrum. And the widespread deployment of private 5G and innovative enterprise networks will need to be fueled by expanding on the successful framework for sharing prime mid-band spectrum with the U.S. Navy, a model that makes local use of unused spectrum,” Calabrese said. He added that the Biden administration’s spectrum strategy “clearly recognizes that coordinated spectrum sharing will need to play a leading role in shaping a balanced approach that makes far more unlicensed, exclusively licensed, and coordinated shared spectrum access available to meet an increasingly wide variety of innovative local enterprise and public sector use cases.”