WASHINGTON—FCC Chairman Brendan Carr this week announced that the commission will take up three new proposals as part of the FCC’s spectrum abundance agenda at its Oct. 29 Open Meeting.
The proposals include a new auction of 25 MHz of prime spectrum in the 1675-1695 MHz and 2020-2025 MHz bands, new rules to build on the success of “direct-to-device” services and final rules to allow drone operations within the 800 MHz cellular band.
“Our proposal to auction 25 MHz of prime spectrum will continue to create tremendous economic value for the American people,” Carr said in a statement. “The ‘direct-to-device’ proposals work to continue leveraging this cutting-edge tech to end cell phone dead zones and provide service directly from next-gen satellite constellations to your smartphone.
"And our final rules on drones… "will provide “the emerging American drone economy with usable spectrum to support the next generation of commercial and defense innovations," Carr added. "This comes on top of our latest action to light up key spectrum bands purchased by SpaceX for its 15,000 satellite direct-to-cell system.”
D2D and Drones
The commission plans to solicit public comment on modernizing its rules for operating ‘Direct-to-Device’ (D2D) services in licensed spectrum. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would considering making an additional 482 MHz of spectrum available for Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) and look to make other regulatory changes to promote more flexible terrestrial, satellite, and hybrid business arrangements and incentivize high-quality D2D service for the benefit of consumers.
In addition, the commission will seek public comment on its proposal to auction off 25 MHz of prime mid-band spectrum in the 1675-1695 MHz and 2020-2025 MHz bands for D2D operations. The FCC says such a move would harness the spectrum for advanced communications services, including flexible-use terrestrial networks, innovative D2D operations, or a hybrid of both.
For drones, the commission will seek public comment on a proposal to eliminate an outdated restriction that prevents drone operations in the 800 MHz Cellular band. If enacted, the move would unlock 50 MHz of licensed, nationwide, low-band spectrum for drone use and promote parity with other similar flexible-use bands.
The two new rules are expected to benefit companies such as SpaceX and Amazon, which have moved to expand D2D services with satellite networks.
New Test Lab Rules
Carr also criticized what he called former administrations’ failure to allow fair rules for lab tests for electrical devices and called for new regulations that would ensure that such testing would only occur if other countries followed the same rules in a reciprocal fashion.
Carr said that if approved at the Oct. 29 meeting, new rules would take effect by Dec. 1, 2028 that all testing, certifying, and accreditation activities occur in the U.S. or a foreign nation that follows that same testing protocols, aka a "Reciprocal Economy."
He added that the current lab testing scenario has diminished the commission’s confidence in lab testing from non-reciprocal countries, which has “led to a dangerous overconcentration in non-Reciprocal Economies, creating vulnerabilities and threatening the integrity of the entire equipment authorization program.”
“For decades, officials in D.C. looked the other way when foreign nations abused their relationships with America and adopted trade practices that failed to account for basic concepts of reciprocity and fair dealing,” Carr said. “Those efforts included the offshoring of testing capacity to foreign labs and the gutting of American jobs and domestic industry.
"Flash forward to now and less than 4% of all electronic devices are tested in labs located inside the U.S., and the lion’s share are tested in countries that do not operate a reciprocal economy," he added. "So today, we take appropriate action to insist on fair and reciprocal treatment in international commerce.”
These rules follow last year’s “Bad Labs” rules, which prohibited Test Lab ownership or control by entities deemed national security threats, such as foreign adversaries. These rules have led to 29 Test Labs losing their FCC recognition over these concerning ties, according to the commission.
Carr said the FCC has also strengthened its enforcement game, withdrawing recognition from two Test Labs in non-Reciprocal Economies and beginning the process for two more, where the Labs had copied-and-pasted test results threatening consumer safety and communication network integrity.
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