Google is fighting T-Mobile and CTIA’s proposal for changing the current 3.5GHz rules which are the subject of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will be discussed at the Federal Communications Commission’s next public meeting. Officials from Google and Alphabet Access partnered with the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) and jointly met with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel’s senior legal adviser and chief of staff Travis Litman, using their Thursday meeting to criticize the proposed change that they claim will only help the telecom giants in the country.
The lobbyists pointed out that the current draft backed by CTIA and T-Mobile seeks to revoke the 3.5GHz rules that the FCC put into place only two years ago and voted for them in a unanimous manner, thus making it a nonpartisan issue. The same regulatory framework that the federal agency will now consider revoking also facilitates the deployment of fixed broadband internet infrastructure in rural areas of the United States, Google’s officials and WISPA said, noting how smaller companies with a wide variety of business models can all benefit from the existing rules and be competitive in the market, consequently contributing to the advancements toward a nationwide implementation of the fifth generation (5G) of mobile networks. The complaints voiced to Democratic Commissioner’s office last week essentially go against Republican Commissioner Michael O’Rielly’s recent efforts that sought to thoroughly review the existing regulatory framework based on a belief that the 3.5GHz spectrum will be an important component of 5G deployment.
The three-layered access structure of the band makes it a relatively unique offering and one that many parties want to utilize in their wireless endeavors. Google and WISPA also suggested that yet another rule change related to the spectrum will further delay access to the 3.5GHz band, a notion that CTIA previously dismissed. T-Mobile and some other major wireless carriers in the country are lobbying for the FCC to extend its standard licensing terms for the band to ten years and provide licensees with some assurances related to future renewals, whereas their opponents remain adamant that the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that’s soon set to be under consideration will significantly delay the deployment of 5G technologies in the U.S.