INCOMPAS and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) urged the FCC to follow the record supporting expansion of the 12 GHz band for new or expanded terrestrial mobile use. Doing so would accelerate mobile market competition, bolster the economy, and strengthen America’s 5G edge, they claim.
They also assert that opening 500 MHz of the band would not undermine the use of 12 GHz for satellite services and would protect incumbents from interference. “By bringing these outdated rules in line with today’s realities, the FCC can achieve the win-win we need now and put this critical spectrum to its best and highest use,” said INCOMPAS CEO Chip Pickering. “We can and we must do better than the status quo.”
In joint comments to the agency, INCOMPAS and CCIA cited a recent engineering study submitted by RS Access and an updated study on Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) by DISH as the only technical analyses entered into the record. According to the two lobbying groups, these studies show the Commission can expand the use of the 12 GHz band while promoting coexistence among the three services allocated to the band on a co-primary basis – DBS, Fixed Satellite Service limited to non-geostationary orbit systems and Multi-Channel Video and Data Distribution Services. As the most prominent user of the band, DISH’s support for modernizing these rules “clearly demonstrates” that any concerns of interference with DBS services are not valid, they state.
While some have called for the FCC to clear the band of incumbents and auction new rights, this action is not substantiated by the facts, law, or policy, claim INCOMPAS and CCIA. They also say auctioning these rights would lead to “unnecessary and extensive delays” of bringing 5G to market.
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