Just received. FYI from Dave.

73,

Rick - K5UR

-----Original Message-----
From: david davidsiddall-law. com <david@davidsiddall-law.com>
To: exec-com@arrl.org <exec-com@arrl.org>
Sent: Mon, Aug 10, 2020 4:13 pm
Subject: [exec-com:9601] Political and Spectrum Happenings in Washington

EC,

I want to advise you on some happenings in Washington that directly relate to ARRL’s continued efforts to protect Amateur spectrum.

(1) Last week Commissioner O’Rielly lost the President’s support for renomination and his nomination was withdrawn on August 3. He is the Commissioner most interested in spectrum issues generally, and has strongly advocated for reallocations for 5G and WiFi (including at 3.4 and 5.9 GHz).

(2) The head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the FCC’s spectrum counterpart for federal uses, was “returned to his staff job” this morning and a new “Acting Head named. This is the third NTIA leader in a little over a year. NTIA play a critical role on both 3.4 and 5.9 GHz issues.

(3) Whether coincidental or not, this afternoon the White House and the Department of Defense announced that an agreement had been reached on Defense / Commercial sharing of the 3.450 – 3.550 GHz band. This includes the top 50 MHz of the 3.3 – 3.5 GHz Amateur band. A sharing arrangement for this 100 MHz long has been expected. Stated expectations are that this spectrum will be auctioned for commercial 5G purposes in early 2022, subject to protecting Defense operations. Details on the 3.45 – 3.55 sharing arrangement have not been made available yet. But I do expect that the Commission may address both the 5.9 and 3.4 GHz bands at its September or October meeting.

Where does that leave us?

With the Executive Committee’s approval, in the next weeks I hope to reiterate our arguments for continued sharing of these two bands. The Commission proposed to remove the amateur secondary allocation from the entire 3.3 – 3.5 GHz band, but we are focused on preserving access to at least the bottom 150 MHz that is not being scheduled for commercial use (at least now).

The FCC did NOT propose to remove the amateur secondary allocation at 5.9 GHz, but this spectrum remains hotly contested within and outside Government. I also intend to communicate these development to others interest Amateurs once I have the details on the latest agreements announced this afternoon, and suggest appropriate contacts.

Please let me know if any questions or concerns.

73, Dave K3ZJ

David R. Siddall

Managing Partner

DS Law, PLLC

1629 K St. NW, Ste 300

Washington, DC 20006

direct: +1 202 559 4690

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