4/27 FCC Coalition Reply Comments Urging Commission to Open 5.9 GHz Band for Unlicensed Use

New America's Open Technology Institute wrote and filed reply comments with the American Library Association, the Benton Foundation, Next Century Cities, and Public Knowledge responding to comments in the record for the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposed freeing up 45 megahertz of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use, and retaining 30 megahertz of spectrum for auto safety purposes. OTI and Public Knowledge filed initial comments in the proceeding back in March. In the reply comments, the Public Interest Organizations detailed the strong support in the record for the FCC’s proposal to reallocate at least 45 megahertz in the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use, and the vast public interest benefits that will come with the FCC opening up this spectrum for the first and only unencumbered 160 megahertz channel that can support the next generation of Wi-Fi technology, empowering Americans in all areas of the country to access gigabit-fast and more affordable 5G-capable applications and services. Below is a summary of the comments:

The record reflects strong and diverse support for the Commission’s proposal to reallocate at least 45 megahertz of the virtually unused 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use. This increment of additional unlicensed spectrum is critical for consumers and the economy because it creates the first unencumbered 160 megahertz channel needed to support the next generation of Wi-Fi technology, enabling Americans in all areas of the country to access gigabit-fast and more affordable 5G-capable applications and services. The Public Interest Organizations (PIOs) make several key points in these Reply Comments.

First, contrary to assertions that this 45 megahertz is of marginal importance to America’s 5G wireless ecosystem, the Commission’s proposal to extend today’s most used Wi-Fi band in 5 GHz will create the first and only unencumbered, contiguous channel of 160 MHz available for use at standard power. If harmonized with U-NII-3, this 45 megahertz can almost immediately allow homes, enterprise, libraries and schools to have at least one gigabit-capable Wi-Fi 6 channel with the power to cover multiple rooms and deliver better quality connectivity at a reasonable cost. As the Commission’s recent STAs for WISPs is demonstrating, this 45 megahertz addition to U-NII-3 can also immediately boost the capacity of fixed wireless broadband services in rural, tribal and other underserved areas with unencumbered outdoor use.

Second, the record reflects strong support for the Commission’s proposal to adopt technical rules that fully harmonize that spectrum with the current U-NII-3 band, creating a 160 megahertz channel for Wi-Fi 6 that is not encumbered by either a Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) or by a geolocation database coordination requirement. Studies show ITS operations at the top of the 5.9 GHz band are unlikely to be harmed by unlicensed RLAN operations in adjacent bands and, as a result, no special mitigation techniques or stringent OOBE limits are required. It is critical that the Commission get the OOBE limits correct and seek to keep the limits low.

Third, the record reflects strong support for relocating ITS operations to a different, potentially better band to ensure that both Wi-Fi and other unlicensed services and auto safety systems have the spectrum needed to optimize consumer welfare. The 4.9 GHz band—50 megahertz of grossly underutilized spectrum already allocated exclusively for public safety— should be a prime candidate for the Commission as the new ITS band. The Commission designated 5.9 GHz as the U-NII-4 band precisely because of its immediate adjacency to both the current 5 GHz Wi-Fi band and the future 6 GHz Wi-Fi band. Together, the Commission could create a single, contiguous, extremely high-capacity band that can both accommodate 5Gcapable applications and spur innovation for capabilities that have yet to be invented. In contrast, there is no specific technical reason why ITS/V2X needs to operate in the 5.9 GHz band.

Fourth, the Commission should reject arguments that there is sufficient unlicensed spectrum available in other bands and more than enough thanks to the agency’s recent decision to open the 6 GHz band for unlicensed sharing. Not only can critical V2X safety systems successfully deploy on 30 megahertz or less, but filings in the record by two auto industry coalitions demonstrate automakers are not willing to commit to deploying even the basic V2V safety messaging to more than a tiny fraction of the U.S. vehicle fleet, rendering the radios if not utterly useless for safety, then certainly far less effective than driver assist LiDAR and other sensing technologies the Commission is facilitating on other spectrum bands.

Finally, some auto industry commenters erroneously contend that the Commission does not have the authority under Section 316 of the Communications Act to reallocate unused 5.9 GHz spectrum capacity to another service. Clear agency and judicial precedent supports the agency’s authority, including two current proceedings that reduce incumbent holdings in similarly underutilized and outdated bands by the same 60 percent.