The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai issued a statement on Monday regarding the White House and Department of Defense’s announcement that 3.45-3.55 GHz band will be made available for 5G network services.
“I commend the President and Department of Defense for today’s announcement that the 3.45- 3.55 GHz band will be made available for commercial 5G deployment. This is a key milestone in securing United States leadership in 5G. I also would like to thank FCC staff for their work to help create a framework that will promote 5G service in this important band,” Pai stated. “Together with the spectrum being made available for 5G in the C-band as well as the 3.5 GHz band, we are now on track to have a 530-megahertz swath of mid-band spectrum available for 5G from 3.45 to 3.98 GHz. The FCC looks forward to moving quickly to adopt service rules for the 3.45 GHz band and then hold an auction to bring this prime mid-band spectrum to market.”
President Donald Trump said in a media briefing on Monday that this is “very bold action” which will allow the United States to continue to be a leader in the industry. “Secure 5G networks will absolutely be a vital link to America’s prosperity and national security in the 21st century. 5G will be as much as 100 times faster than the current 4G cellular networks. It will transform the way our citizens work, learn, communicate, and travel. It will make American farms more productive, American manufacturing more competitive, and American healthcare better and more accessible. Basically, it covers almost everything, when you get right down to it,” Trump said.
The freeing up of this band follows FCC Commissioner O’Rielly’s statement about the C-band, which the Commission was looking to make available between the 3.1 to 3.55 GHz band, which housed the Department of Defense’s systems. Monday’s Defense Department’s announcement is the first major step to work toward clearing portions of the band to implement spectrum network bands for 5G. In January, the FCC announced that it certified four companies to work with the FCC to create and implement commercial operations in the 3.5GHz spectrum band.
