500 MHz Initiative
A 2010 Presidential Memorandum directed the Secretary of Commerce, working through NTIA, to collaborate with the Federal Communications Commission to make available a total of 500 megahertz of Federal and nonfederal spectrum over the next 10 years for mobile and fixed wireless broadband use.
This initiative, to nearly double the amount of commercial spectrum, will spur investment, economic growth, and job creation while supporting the growing demand by consumers and businesses for wireless broadband services.
Related content
Keynote Address of Assistant Secretary Strickling at Silicon Flatirons Conference on the Digital Broadband Migration
Keynote Address of Lawrence E. Strickling
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
Silicon Flatirons Conference on the Digital Broadband Migration:
The Evolving Industry Structure of the Digital Broadband Landscape
Boulder, Colorado
January 31, 2016
—As Prepared for Delivery—
Nearly Halfway to Meeting Spectrum Target
Recognizing the growing importance of wireless broadband to the U.S. economy, President Obama five years ago last week set a bold new goal aimed at ensuring that enough spectrum is available to meet the surging demand for wireless connectivity. As the President noted in a June 28, 2010 memorandum, “The world is going wireless, and we must not fall behind.” The President called on NTIA and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make 500 megahertz of federal and non-federal spectrum available for commercial wireless broadband by 2020. As we move into the second half of this ten-year challenge, I wanted to take the opportunity to review the progress we have made and the hurdles still left to surmount.
Five years out, there is little debate about the accuracy of the President’s prediction – the public’s demand for wireless “smart” devices has continued to grow exponentially along with the need for spectrum to help power this technology. Nearly two-thirds of Americans now own smart phones compared to just 35 percent in 2011, according to the Pew Research Center.
3.5 GHz Exclusion Zone Analyses and Methodology
This report describes the 3.5 GHz Study. It explains the assumptions, methods, analyses, and system characteristics used to generate the revised exclusion zones for small-cell commercial broadband systems to protect federal radar operations (ship and land based) from aggregate interference in the band 3550–3650 MHz. The 3.5 GHz Study’s exclusion zones are compared with the exclusion zones that were generated in the Fast Track Report, which considered macro-cell operations.
Keywords: RADAR; spectrum sharing; FCC; NTIA; 3.5 GHz band; exclusion zones; CBRS; 3550-3650 MHz