Pai Urges Regional, International Efforts to Find Spectrum for 5G

FCC efforts to free up spectrum for 5G will be more meaningful if there's more harmonization regionally, Chairman Ajit Pai told the Mexico 5G Conference, in prepared remarks released Wednesday. He said making the 600 GHz band available for 5G was helped by bilateral agreements with Mexico and Canada. He said there needs to be continued work identifying regional harmonization opportunities elsewhere, especially with Mexico developing plans for auctions for the 2.5 GHz and 3.45 GHz bands. Citing the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference's agenda item 1.2 on making some bands between 3.3 GHz and 10.5 GHz available for 5G regionally or globally, Pai said "we should seize this opportunity and others." Pai said national security threats posed by some foreign communications equipment providers perhaps can be countered by use of open radio access network technologies.