(bright music)
- Good afternoon.
It is great to be here in person,
I'm now saying that out loud
'cause I don't take it for granted,
and join you for the 2022,
oh, my gosh, it's 2022,
5G Summit.
Listen, I'm honored to be here today
and join the roster
of so many other distinguished colleagues,
including a call out to my government colleagues,
Senator Amy Klobuchar,
Representative Brett Guthrie,
and Brian Deese,
the director of the National Economic Council.
And if you need proof
that United States leadership in 5G
is both a national and bipartisan priority,
you can look no further than today's attendance list.
Plus, this summit is taking place at an auspicious time
because it was today in 1894
that Guglielmo Marconi made wireless history
when he first transmitted a radio wave 3/4 of a mile.
He used equipment he developed at his family's estate,
which was about an hour southwest of Venice.
And this was in many ways the birth of wireless technology.
But as the story goes,
the government in Italy was not impressed
and he had to leave home
to develop financial support for his work.
Arguably his boldest effort,
developing a transatlantic broadcast,
took place only after he spent time
in the United States in 1899.
So I don't think that's an accident.
I think the wonder we have for wireless innovation
in the United States
has a long history and it runs deep.
We prize being a global leader in spectrum technology
and we know that retaining our edge today
requires a commitment to rolling out 5G networks.
Of course, that's why you're here.
And we are talking about networks
that are up to a hundred times faster,
that will reduce latency by up to 80%,
and that will handle up to a thousand times more devices
per square kilometer
than today's 4G networks.
In short, they've got the power
to transform so much in our lives.
And already 5G is changing the ways we connect.
We've got more than 60% of the smartphones
that are being shipped right now are 5G devices.
New 5G networks are boosting productivity
and making industrial processes safer
in our factories, shipyards, and warehouses.
With 5G fixed wireless,
we also have fresh competition
in the home broadband market,
increasing the number of ways families can get online.
Plus, using 5G technology
in the power, transportation, and manufacturing sectors
could lead to emission savings
that help put us on course to meet future climate targets.
So all of this is exciting.
It's a lot of progress in a short amount of time.
But the way I see it,
we're only beginning to scratch the surface.
That's because if we do this right,
our phones will be the least interesting part
of what we do with this technology in the future.
But before we get there, we have to be mindful
that we will never reach our full potential
if these networks do not reach everyone
everywhere in this country.
So at the FCC, we're determined to make progress.
We're pursuing a 5G agenda
that I believe can move the country forward,
expand infrastructure investment,
and pry open the doors of opportunity for all.
And thanks to our work over the last year and change,
we're actually making real strides
at building that 5G future.
So here it goes,
five things we're doing right now
to support the future of 5G.
First, we are investing
in broadband and wireless coverage data.
We're using the Broadband DATA Act
to develop truly granular information
about where service is and is not
all across the United States.
The truth is, we should have had this data long ago,
but we're doing the second best thing right now.
We are building it at this moment today.
Now, armed with this information,
we're gonna help close the digital divide,
develop smarter policies,
and think big about how 5G service
can reach everyone everywhere.
And here's how you can help.
On June 30th, we are opening our new system
to collect coverage information from carriers.
When that window opens, if you're a carrier,
get us your data as quickly as possible.
Second, we are making service more affordable.
As you may know, the FCC launched
the largest ever broadband affordability effort
in this country,
and it's called the Affordable Connectivity Program.
To date, it's responsible for connecting
more than 11.5 million households nationwide
to high-speed service.
And to those of you here who are participating
and are a part of it,
thank you and keep at it.
Third, we are freeing up more spectrum,
and especially mid-band spectrum, for 5G.
In October, we kicked off an auction
of a hundred megahertz of prime mid-band airwaves
in the 3.45 gigahertz band.
Last week, we granted all the licenses won in that auction,
and for those of you counting,
that's more than 4,000 licenses for new wireless service.
In addition, we're rolling
right into our next mid-band spectrum auction,
which kicks off in July.
This auction of the 2.5 gigahertz band
is going to help extend 5G service
beyond the most populated areas in the country.
Fourth, on the equipment side,
we are diversifying what goes into our 5G networks.
This will increase security, drive down costs,
and help build a bigger market for secure 5G equipment.
Open and interoperable equipment is the future
and we're working to ensure that Open RAN technology
is being built here and now.
Fifth, we are improving the way we coordinate
with our federal partners.
After all, our ability to be successful
in our mission to connect everyone everywhere
is as much about finding partners
as it is about finding spectrum.
That's why earlier this month I announced
a new Spectrum Coordination Initiative
with Assistant Secretary Alan Davidson at NTIA.
All right, that's a lot of activity,
but we're not stopping now.
Earlier today, I believe you heard the director
of the National Economic Council, Brian Deese,
talk about the growing challenge of spectrum scarcity
and the need for a national spectrum plan.
I agree.
We need to replenish the spectrum pipeline
for new commercial innovation
if we wanna lead the world in wireless.
We also need to be creative.
I think that kind of creativity is in our national DNA.
And, you know, we can speculate
that's what Marconi saw here too.
Because remember that spectrum auctions,
incentive auctions, unlicensed authorization,
and dynamic spectrum access systems
all got their start in the United States.
We've turned spectrum scarcity into spectrum abundance.
We've done it before. We can do it again.
So I started with five things we're doing for 5G
and now I'm gonna close with five ideas
about what we can do next.
Fair warning, this is where it gets weedy
and these ideas require working together and with Congress
to update allocation processes,
explore new incentives,
leverage new technologies,
and build new infrastructure.
So here we go.
First, we should provide certainty
around near-term spectrum opportunities.
The Spectrum Innovation Act would require
the Secretary of Commerce,
in consultation with the Secretary of Defense,
the director of the Office of Science Technology Policy,
and the commission,
to identify 200 megahertz of spectrum
in the 3.1 to 3.45 gigahertz band for auction.
This legislation would provide much-needed certainty
about the near-term availability of mid-band spectrum
to support next-generation wireless networks
because it has the mix of propagation and capacity
that can help close the digital divide.
Second, we should explore updating
the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act
to make it a more effective tool for repurposing spectrum.
Today, this law encourages federal users
to clear their spectrum
and it does that by establishing a spectrum relocation fund.
The fund reimburses agencies operating on airwaves
that have been reallocated for commercial use.
So far so good.
But I think we can do more
with the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act.
For starters, we could make sure
that federal users relocating
have a wider range of options.
That means creating opportunities for federal agencies
not just to replace their equipment and services,
but to upgrade their capabilities
when they relocate to new spectrum.
We could also consider payment of relocation funds
to federal users in adjacent spectrum
who might need to make changes when airwaves are repurposed.
This could help avoid spectrum disputes
and speed the way for more reallocation of our airwaves.
In addition, we could revisit the statutory requirement
for FCC auctions
to raise 110% of federal users' estimated relocation costs.
As we've learned in recent auctions,
this requirement really limits the commission's ability
to design creative spectrum auctions
and take advantage of innovations in spectrum policy
like dynamic sharing models.
Finally, we could explore if a model similar to this law
could help make more efficient use
of commercial airwaves too.
Third, we should explore receiver performance.
Historically, our discussions about spectrum efficiency
have been a one-way effort.
They have focused almost exclusively on transmitters.
But efficient use of our airwaves is a two-way effort
and low-quality receivers can make it harder
to introduce new services in the same or nearby frequencies.
That's why last month,
the FCC launched a new inquiry on receiver performance.
It asks about incentives,
guidelines, regulatory requirements,
and procurement practices
that could help create a more transparent and predictable
radio frequency environment for all users.
I think it's time to consider these concepts
because if we get them right,
we will have more airwaves available
for new and innovative services.
Fourth, we should consider the broader use of incentives.
If we want a robust and reliable spectrum pipeline,
we need to make sure that federal authorities see gain
and not just loss
when their airwaves are reallocated for new commercial use.
To do this, we could explore a series of incentives
to serve as a catalyst for freeing up more spectrum
for commercial markets.
We could begin by developing a spectrum currency,
because with a uniform system of valuation
for federal spectrum assignments,
we could explore
the development of incentives for efficiency
and better understand the opportunity cost of federal use.
This, in turn, would facilitate a supply of spectrum
for new commercial uses
through a policy based on carrots rather than sticks.
Fifth and finally, we should use this opportunity
to solve our most pressing communications challenges.
We can put our public airwaves
to broader public purpose
in any spectrum reauthorization.
How?
We can work with Congress to use the billions of dollars
that FCC spectrum auctions raise
to build the public infrastructure this country truly needs.
And we could start with using future auction revenues
to fund the nation's transition to next-generation 911.
It would benefit public safety nationwide
and every one of us who dials 911
when the unthinkable occurs.
We can have an updated public emergency calling system
that's built for the digital age
and we can use public airwaves to do it.
All right, so there you have it,
five things we're doing for 5G
and five ideas about what we could do next.
This is challenging.
I don't wanna leave you with the impression
that any of this is all that easy.
As Marconi himself learned,
not every bold idea yields immediate rewards.
But thinking big and then making it happen
is how we have led the world in wireless.
Like I said upfront, we've done it before
and we can do it again.
I believe it.
In fact, I believe if we all here work together,
we can make real progress
and build a brighter wireless future.
Thank you.
(audience applause)
(bright music)