The FCC has outlined its vision for devoting radio spectrum to the development of 5G services. In a blog post, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said he sees the 600 MHz band as "a prime candidate for deployment of a wide-area 5G coverage layer". This band is expected to become available under the incentive auctions aimed at encouraging broadcasters to surrender some of their frequencies for mobile services. Wheeler said the 600 MHz band could do for 5G what the 700 MHz band did in building the US's lead in 4G development.
The FCC is also looking at higher frequency bands for mobile and held an initial consultation on the matter last year. At the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference, the US plans to support adoption of a plan for identifying spectrum for mobile technologies in higher-frequency bands. A final decision on this could be taken at the next WRC in 2019. The spectrum bands proposed by the US to be studied for consideration at WRC-19 include 27.5-29.5 GHz, 37-40.5 GHz, 47.2-50.2 GHz, 50.4-52.6 GHz and 59.3-71 GHz. The FCC will hold its own consultation soon on these bands.
