Pai Says Tribes Have Lots to Gain by Pursuing 2.5 GHz Licenses
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai urged tribes to pursue 2.5 GHz licenses when a six-month tribal opportunity opens Feb. 3. Tribal officials told us the level of attendance at the Tuesday workshop where Pai spoke shows they're interested. In July, the agency revised rules over partial dissents of Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks. The FCC gave only the tribes a shot at seeking licenses before auction.
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“I’m not speculating when I say that this spectrum could deliver major benefits to rural tribal communities,” Pai said. “The Havasupai Tribe, located at the base of the Grand Canyon, currently uses 2.5 GHz channels to offer wireless broadband service. It’s being used by the community’s early Head Start building, teachers and K-12 students. This is what I call digital opportunity and now it’s within reach of many tribes.” His remarks later were posted.
The tribal window is the first by the FCC offering native Americans an advantage in acquiring spectrum licenses for free, Pai said. “I’m proud that it is happening under my watch, and I hope that tribes will take advantage of it,” he said. “That is why we have convened today’s workshop.”
“There are approximately 20 tribal representatives at the table and, according to staff, over 30 people registered to participate online,” event participant Randy Tyree of GRTyree Consulting told us. Other attendees said the interest level appears high, at least among some of the tribes.
"The 2.5 GHz band is excellent spectrum for terrestrial broadband service, given the available bandwidth and the propagation and penetration characteristics,” said Tom Struble, tech policy manager at the R Street Institute. “There will be substantial interest among qualifying tribes in acquiring that spectrum.” Not all tribes will qualify since they also have to be in a rural area, Struble said in a later interview. He didn't attend the event.
“As we know from the FCC's recent work on Lifeline, a lot of land that's technically tribal is actually urban or suburban and well served by existing broadband providers, like parts of Tulsa and Oklahoma City,” Struble said. Many tribes aren’t saying they’re interested “but once the FCC starts handing out prime mid-band spectrum licenses … many more will come out of the woodwork,” he said. Some will “flip” the licenses to carriers or wireless ISPs and “take home a tidy profit now that the FCC has lifted the educational-use requirements on the band,” he predicted.
Major groups representing the tribes didn’t comment. The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition, which had hoped licenses would be made available to educational institutions, declined to comment.
The Office of Native Affairs and Policy partnered with the Wireless Bureau “to conduct extensive outreach of the rural tribal window,” said Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Patrick Webre. “Our outreach, including events like today's, will ensure that eligible tribes have the tools they need to take advantage of this great opportunity.” Use of the 2.5 GHz band “will enable the provision of advanced telecommunication services to residents of rural tribal lands and close the digital divide … in areas that may otherwise be very difficult to serve.”
“The potential this spectrum brings to rural tribal communities" is real, said Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale. The band is “being used today to bring broadband to some of the most remote areas of our country, and we will do everything in our power to provide tribes the information and support they need to navigate the process for obtaining access to unassigned 2.5 GHz spectrum,” he said.
“If you have questions, do not leave today until we hear those questions,” said Dana Shaffer, Wireless Bureau deputy chief.
Tribal interests in recent months have filed on the 2.5 GHz band in docket 18-120. Tyree reported on a meeting between tribal leaders and Commissioner Brendan Carr last week at the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico that Carr was visiting. “The group discussed the 2.5 GHz Band proceeding, noting its support for a Tribal nation priority filing window and the current education and application process,” he said. “This should only be a small part of a solution to address broadband access on Tribal lands. Issues surrounding 5G deployment were also discussed.”
An official with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Minnesota told the FCC in December the tribe will pursue licenses in the band. Sacred Wind Communications “encouraged the Commission to further encourage commercial partner participation in Tribal priority window opportunities.”
In November, the National Congress of American Indians asked the FCC to reconsider its decision to limit off-reservation lands, including tribal trusts, from the tribal priority window eligibility and that a place must “rural” to qualify. Officials from Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico, Department of Education met Pai seeking s priority window than would have started later than the one adopted.