In a document released the day before Thanksgiving, the FCC issued three orders and initiated yet another round of rulemaking in its Spectrum Frontiers proceeding aimed principally at making almost two gigahertz of additional millimeter wave (“mmW”) spectrum available for terrestrial commercial use while confirming other mmW frequencies for satellite use.  Continuing its break-neck pace in the Spectrum Frontiers docket – a notice of inquiry, three notices of proposed rulemaking, two reports and orders, and a memorandum opinion and order in just over three years – the FCC underscored its “priority [in] making spectrum available quickly so that it can be utilized by potential users, technology developers, and innovators.”  In numerous places throughout the recently released orders, the FCC opted against adopting regulations because they might have the adverse side effect of preventing new technologies and services being able to exploit the mmW bands.
…
Continue Reading FCC Adopts a Second Wave of Millimeter Wave Regulations to Support Next Generation Terrestrial Systems and Services