A government report has recommended the establishment of a framework to manage and guide the equal sharing of the lower 37 GHz band for both commercial and defense use. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Department of Defense said Tuesday in a joint press release that the recommendation was a result of its study conducted to comply with the requirements under the National Spectrum Strategy.
Significance of the 37 GHz Band
The spectrum has for years been a cause of contention across industry and government. The 37.0 to 37.6 GHz presents an opportunity for commercial companies to enable the delivery of high-speed, low-latency 5G services for data-intensive applications. However, the DOD also wants to use the frequency to meet mission requirements.
There are additional concerns over maintaining the security of the government and military sites using the spectrum. NASA’s receiving Earth station is in the 37 to 38.6 GHz band. The NTIA also revealed that are 15 military and two National Science Foundation sites in the 37 GHz band.
Spectrum Sharing Possible
The study, conducted over 10 months, provides a two-phase path toward coordination in the spectrum.
The first phase will determine whether there is an overlap between a proposed and existing site. If there is no overlap, operations may proceed.
The second phase addresses overlap and would require operators to negotiate and coordinate operations. In case of dispute, the NTIA and the Federal Communications Commission will step in to resolve the issue.
In addition, the agencies want to set up protections for operations in the 36 to 37 GHz band.
The study includes public comments collected from a request for information the FCC issued in August.
