FCC says it will move toward 2027 auction of mid-band wireless spectrum

The US Federal Communications Commission says it will soon vote on an order that sets ‌up a 2027 auction of mid-band wireless spectrum that is ‌a focus point for 5G use.

In a statement released Tuesday, the FCC said it ​would vote on July 22 to hold an auction of 160 megahertz of spectrum in what’s known as the Upper C-Band next year. Legislation passed last year required the auction of at least 100 megahertz of spectrum ‌but the statement said the ⁠FCC aimed to clear “significantly more spectrum than the minimum required under law.”

It said it expected the sale to ⁠raise billions of dollars.

Various parts of the wireless spectrum are reserved for different kinds of technology and communication services, but the increasing demands of data-hungry ​phones, connected ​devices, and autonomous cars have put ​pressure on regulators to expand ‌the chunk devoted to 5G communications, which operators typically like to use on the C-Band because it offers the ideal mix of broad coverage and high performance.

Because the Upper C-Band is already being used by satellite transmissions and airplane safety aids called altimeters, any future sale would have ‌to make sure new entrants could either ​safely coexist with devices using the same ​frequency or that existing incumbents ​shift to using a different part of the spectrum.

The ‌FCC said its proposed rules envisioned ​the establishment of “retrofit ​rebates” to support the domestic aviation sector in upgrading its altimeters so that they’re insulated from 5G interference, and that satellite operators ​would be “fairly and ‌expeditiously” moved out of the reconfigured portion of the Upper C-Band, ​with financial compensation being paid for clearing the spectrum. Reuters