US Pencils in High Frequency 5G Auction for Late 2019

The US will auction off high frequency 5G spectrum in the second half of 219, according to the FCC’s chairman, Ajit Pai.

In a blog post following his attendance at the International Telecommunication Union’s Global Symposium for Regulators in Geneva, Switzerland, Pai said that the US would look to auction off spectrum in the 37GHz, 39GHz and 47GHz bands in the second half of 2019.

“I’m excited to announce my plan to move forward with a single auction of three more millimeter-wave spectrum bands—the 37GHz, 39GHz, and 47GHz bands—in the second half of 2019.  To help facilitate that auction on this timeline, I’m proposing rules to clean up the 39 GHz band and move incumbents into rationalised license holdings.  This will help make the 39 GHz band as attractive as possible for new bidders, while consolidating incumbent spectrum licenses into more usable blocks,” he said.

“As part of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking we will consider at the FCC’s August meeting, I’m also proposing to have 100 MHz license blocks for the 37GHz, 39GHz, and 47GHz bands, so they can more easily be auctioned together.  These are important steps that will help solidify U.S. leadership in 5G,” he added.

The US is pressing ahead with plans to be the first country in the world to rollout fully commercialised 5G services, when it launches 5G networks in 4 major US cities later this year.

The high frequency spectrum being referred to by Pai will likely be used to facilitate IoT applications on an industrial scale. – Total Telecom