When it comes to public policy, any rules that an administration may need a bit of extra help tuning the specifics of or that it thinks that the public may have useful input on normally go up for public comment. This is especially the case for the Federal Communications Commission; any decision they make affects both individuals and business on a nationwide scale and usually in a pretty big way. One of the biggest current examples of this phenomenon is the governing of the relevant spectrum bands as mobile providers fight to introduce 5G networks and other businesses with interest in spectrum vie for that same spectrum, finally freed from cable and radio providers, to improve their own services. The same can be said of anything having to do with security and privacy.
Rules concerning both are on the table as of this writing, and are open to public comments until the end of September, with replies having a cutoff date of October 31st. Specifically, new rules concerning spectrum above the 24GHz zone and their incorporation into wireless 5G networks are up for debate. Coming on the heels of a decision back in July to make more spectrum bands available for 5G, one of the biggest bits of the new proposal is the inclusion of a number of bands running the gamut from just about 24GHz to all the way above 95GHz in eligibility for use in mobile networks, mostly for 5G and Internet of Things deployment.
The proposed rules also affect how security in the new bands and dealings with current matters will be handled, specifically on a federal level. The FCC wants to hear from industry insiders and even common citizens about how best to coordinate federal access to the bands in order to avoid compromising security, which is something that can happen with wireless networks when spectrum bands overlap or lie very close together and are being used for different purposes. Of special note, the FCC is looking to the proposal’s comments for more wisdom concerning spectrum bands above 95GHz, largely marginalized to specialized uses due to their tendency toward attenuation, especially at long distances or with large amounts of data. If you wish to put in your own official comment on the matters at hand, the comment form can be found through the source link.