FCC Chairman Speech Describes Strategy for "Seizing the 5G Future"

In a February 26, 2018 speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Chairman Ajit Pai of the Federal Communications Commission discussed America’s strategy for seizing the 5G future. He described the FCC’s three “pillars” supporting its approach:

[D]espite tremendous American success in 4G, we aspire to lead the world in 5G. Make no mistake about it: I want the United States to be the best country for innovating and investing in 5G networks. I want American entrepreneurs to push the boundaries of the possible and American consumers to benefit from next-generation technologies.

To accomplish this—and consistent with our market-based philosophy—the FCC is pursuing a wireless strategy built on three pillars: (1) spectrum, (2) infrastructure, and (3) light-touch network regulation.

For the spectrum pillar, Chairman Pai discussed several FCC initiatives to make more spectrum in low-band, mid-band, and high-band ranges available for commercial use. He noted, however, that in order to start auctions this fall, the FCC needs: “the U.S. Congress to pass legislation by May 13 addressing the handling of upfront payments.” Chairman Pai expressed optimism that the Congress would address this technical concern by then.

Regarding infrastructure, Chairman Pai described how the Commission has launched a comprehensive review of infrastructure regulations aimed at removing outdated rules and making it easier to deploy wireless infrastructure. This review is ongoing, and Chairman Pai said the Commission will be making an announcement on its next steps in the near future.

For the third pillar, light-touch network regulation, the Commission’s most important action was to enact the Restoring Internet Freedom Order to: “reverse the previous Administration’s decision to subject our 21^st century networks to 20^th century utility-style regulation.” Chairman Pai explained:

I want to stress that this is light-touch regulation—not a completely hands-off approach.  Nobody gets a free pass.  The United States is simply making a shift from pre-emptive regulation, which foolishly presumes that every last wireless company is an anti-competitive monopolist, to targeted enforcement based on actual market failure or anti-competitive conduct. 

Chairman Pai summarized the FCC’s approach as follows:

Our overall philosophy is founded on a simple but profound premise: The market, not government, is best positioned to drive innovation and investment in the wireless sector.  Government’s role is not to command and control, but to enable and encourage: to promote competition by maximizing carriers’ willingness and ability to invest in their networks, to free up spectrum for wireless services and make it available for flexible use, and to make it easy to deploy the physical infrastructure necessary for networks to work.