AB 2788 died, BUT FCC is targeting massive deployment of small cells
Hi Everyone,
Although California Bill AB 2788 was just withdrawn by Gatto due to serious opposition from activists and local governments (again thanks to everyone who wrote, phoned in, contacted the press), FCC's Tom Wheeler is introducing something similar July 14 in order to enable 5G, which will begin deployment in 2017. He made a speech just yesterday June 20 about this. (I received this from another activist - thanks for sending).
In summary, 5G is a "national priority," and it will require "massive deployment" of small cells (like in CA AB 2788) because it uses higher frequency bands which do not penetrate obstacles well. I am guessing the "massive deployment" will be similar to what was proposed in CA Bill 2788 - in front of homes, on schools, and on government property. (As smart phones and devices handle more data faster, they need more bandwidth and higher speeds, and 5G will enable higher speeds. This isn't about significant gap in coverage - there are no significant gaps in coverage remaining for making voice calls. Cell tower deployment is now all about providing faster speeds to enable video downloads from the internet, not about 911 or voice call coverage)
This speech can be heard on www.c-span.org. Some of the excerpts are
below. This frightening speech is well-worth listening to.
https://www.fcc.gov/document/
Tom Wheeler, Monday, June 20, National Press Club, Prepared remarks (there
was also some Q&A):
Excerpt:
…That is why 5G is a national priority, and why, this Thursday, I am
circulating to my colleagues proposed new rules that will identify and
open up then rely on a private sector-led process for producing technical
standards best suited for those frequencies and use cases…
On the network side, Verizon and AT&T tell us they will begin deploying 5G
trials in 2017.
These efforts will, of course, help inform the standards process by
putting stakes in the ground.
And the first commercial deployments at scale are expected in 2020.
This timeline requires that we act to pave the way today. With the new
rules I am proposing in our Spectrum Frontiers order, we take our most
significant step yet down the path to our 5G future.
The big game-changer is that 5G will use much higher-frequency bands than
previously thought viable for mobile broadband and other applications.
Such millimeter wave signals have physical properties that are both a
limitation and a strength: they tend to travel best in narrow and straight
lines, and do not go through physical obstacles very well. This means that
very narrow signals in vast amounts of spectrum for 5G applications. We
call it the Spectrum Frontiers proceeding, and we will vote on it July
14th.
… And high-band spectrum will be the focus of our decision next month.
These bands offer huge swaths of spectrum for super-fast data rates with
low latency, and are now becoming unlocked because of technological
advances in computing and antennas.
If the Commission approves my proposal next month, the United States will
be the first country in the world to open up high-band spectrum for 5Gnetworks and applications. And that’s damn important because it means U.S.
companies will be first out of the gate.
… We will be repeating the proven formula that made the United States the
world leader in 4G. It’s a simple formula: Lead the world in spectrum
availability, encourage and protect innovation-driving competition, and
stay out of the way of technological development.
Unlike some countries, we do not believe we should spend the next couple
of years studying what 5G should be, how it should operate, and how to
allocate spectrum, based on those assumptions. Like the examples I gave
earlier, the future has a way of inventing itself. Turning innovators
loose is far preferable to expecting committees and regulators to define
the future. We won’t wait for the standards to be first developed in the
sometimes arduous standards-setting process or in a government-led
activity. Instead, we will make ample spectrum available and an urban
environment tend to bounce around buildings and other obstacles making it
difficult to connect to a moving point. But it also means that the
spectrum can be reused over and over again.
Brilliant engineers have developed new antennas that can aim and amplify
signals, coupled with sophisticated processing, allowing a moving device
to pick up all of the signals bouncing around and create one coherent
connection. To make this work, 5G buildout is going to be very
infrastructure intensive, requiring a massive deployment of small cells.
But it also opens up unprecedented opportunities for frequency reuse and
denser, more localized, networks.
below. This frightening speech is well-worth listening to.
https://www.fcc.gov/document/
Tom Wheeler, Monday, June 20, National Press Club, Prepared remarks (there
was also some Q&A):
Excerpt:
…That is why 5G is a national priority, and why, this Thursday, I am
circulating to my colleagues proposed new rules that will identify and
open up then rely on a private sector-led process for producing technical
standards best suited for those frequencies and use cases…
On the network side, Verizon and AT&T tell us they will begin deploying 5G
trials in 2017.
These efforts will, of course, help inform the standards process by
putting stakes in the ground.
And the first commercial deployments at scale are expected in 2020.
This timeline requires that we act to pave the way today. With the new
rules I am proposing in our Spectrum Frontiers order, we take our most
significant step yet down the path to our 5G future.
The big game-changer is that 5G will use much higher-frequency bands than
previously thought viable for mobile broadband and other applications.
Such millimeter wave signals have physical properties that are both a
limitation and a strength: they tend to travel best in narrow and straight
lines, and do not go through physical obstacles very well. This means that
very narrow signals in vast amounts of spectrum for 5G applications. We
call it the Spectrum Frontiers proceeding, and we will vote on it July
14th.
… And high-band spectrum will be the focus of our decision next month.
These bands offer huge swaths of spectrum for super-fast data rates with
low latency, and are now becoming unlocked because of technological
advances in computing and antennas.
If the Commission approves my proposal next month, the United States will
be the first country in the world to open up high-band spectrum for 5Gnetworks and applications. And that’s damn important because it means U.S.
companies will be first out of the gate.
… We will be repeating the proven formula that made the United States the
world leader in 4G. It’s a simple formula: Lead the world in spectrum
availability, encourage and protect innovation-driving competition, and
stay out of the way of technological development.
Unlike some countries, we do not believe we should spend the next couple
of years studying what 5G should be, how it should operate, and how to
allocate spectrum, based on those assumptions. Like the examples I gave
earlier, the future has a way of inventing itself. Turning innovators
loose is far preferable to expecting committees and regulators to define
the future. We won’t wait for the standards to be first developed in the
sometimes arduous standards-setting process or in a government-led
activity. Instead, we will make ample spectrum available and an urban
environment tend to bounce around buildings and other obstacles making it
difficult to connect to a moving point. But it also means that the
spectrum can be reused over and over again.
Brilliant engineers have developed new antennas that can aim and amplify
signals, coupled with sophisticated processing, allowing a moving device
to pick up all of the signals bouncing around and create one coherent
connection. To make this work, 5G buildout is going to be very
infrastructure intensive, requiring a massive deployment of small cells.
But it also opens up unprecedented opportunities for frequency reuse and
denser, more localized, networks.
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