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Law360 (May 4, 2020, 10:18 PM EDT ) The Federal Communications Commission and the wireless industry are pointing to the success of an emergency spectrum-sharing program in the 5.9 GHz band as evidence that a hotly debated reorganization of the band is workable.
In a statement Monday, the FCC touted the efforts of over 100 wireless internet service providers to power internet signals in the lower portion of the 5.9 GHz band, which is currently reserved exclusively for auto safety applications.
Despite the highly specific allocation for transportation safety, the FCC has consistently asserted that the band is underused by the auto industry, and in March, it granted wireless internet service providers special temporary authority to access the lower portion of the band during the coronavirus pandemic to make sure rural workers, students and families ensconced at home have access to broadband service.
"American consumers are relying more than ever on broadband, so I'm pleased that 5.9 GHz spectrum is helping fixed wireless broadband providers deliver faster and more efficient service for consumers," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement Monday.
The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association said it is also "grateful" to members that "are using the 5.9 GHz spectrum to keep Americans connected and safe through the pandemic."
The FCC is allowing wireless companies to access the portion of the 5.9 GHz that it would like to permanently dedicate to Wi-Fi and other unlicensed, internet-connected services.
In December, the FCC voted to kick off the rulemaking that would allocate more than half of the 5.9 GHz band to Wi-Fi and unlicensed mobile devices. The FCC proposed retaining the upper portion of the band for transportation and vehicle safety-related communication services.
The agency just wrapped up a comment period on the proposal that garnered pushback from the auto industry, which warned that sharing the 5.9 GHz band will hamper automakers' efforts to "dramatically increase" the use of that spectrum for safety technology. Other government agencies — most notably the U.S. Department of Transportation — are backing automakers' opposition to the band plan.
But as internet service providers use the borrowed spectrum to offer more bandwidth and higher-quality service to customers complying with stay-at-home mandates across the country, some WiFi advocates hope that the benefits of the band split will win out.
"We hope these efforts show that the FCC's longer-term compromise approach to the 5.9 GHz band is the right one: Take unused spectrum and put it to work for our communities, now," advocacy group WifiForward said in a statement.
--Editing by Aaron Pelc.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
