To be competitive in the race to 5G, the U.S. must rely on and support its expert agency – the FCC....
If we have learned anything from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the importance of a united front from the government. This is especially true of the United States’ position on 5G, which requires government agencies to reevaluate how they currently use spectrum to accommodate the imminent tsunami of new Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has made significant strides to open up more spectrum bands intended to strengthen our 5G networks, but other federal agencies continue to inhibit new spectrum allocations, undoing the FCC’s progress on that front. Now, more than ever, government leaders need to coordinate with each other to advance the expeditious deployment of 5G. These networks will be essential to our economic recovery after markets begin to reopen and will contribute to the economy’s long-term success afterward.
Coordination is hard when multiple agencies have various forms of jurisdictions over a particular resource, and spectrum is not exempt. However, it becomes untenable when full interagency cooperation is lacking. Unfortunately, that has been a recurring theme the FCC has run into when proffering meaningful policy to open up valuable spectrum. For example, the FCC faced unprecedented pushback from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) when conducting its Spectrum Frontiers auction and the Department of Defense (DoD) when granting Ligado’s application. Keep in mind, all are within the same administration.
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