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Budge up, Navy boys, I've got some broadband spectrum to flog – FCC

150MHz may be opened up in 3.5GHz space, telcos can pay to play or just be friends

US watchdog the FCC hopes to offer more airwaves to telcos in hope they'll be used to grow mobile broadband coverage in America.

The commission announced on Friday that it wants to add 100MHz to the 50MHz of spectrum in the 3550MHz to 3700MHz band already available for commercial use. The US Department of Defense operates a few Army and coastal Navy radar systems in that space, and will have to share more of the band with mobile networks if the proposed changes are approved.

The frequencies are handy for transmitting and receiving lots of data quickly over short distances, which is not a problem when cramming small network cells into cities and towns.

The FCC hopes telcos and upstart wireless network providers (cough, cough, Google) will eventually share a chunk of the airwaves together as one happy family, although they will be able to buy "priority" access to the frequencies via an auction.

"The use of advanced spectrum-sharing technology will allow wireless broadband systems to share spectrum with military radars and other incumbent systems, while protecting important federal missions," the FCC said in announcing the plan.

"The Report and Order establishes a roadmap to allowing commercial operations anywhere in the continental US by leveraging spectrum sensing technologies. In an initial phase, coastal protections will be 77 per cent smaller than previously contemplated to protect military users."

Spectrum space has been in high demand as carriers expand and improve their 4G/LTE mobile broadband networks across the US.

Under the plan, the FCC will make part of the space available for "general authorized access," meaning anything with a regulator-approved device can use it to communicate. The military and satellite systems will retain another part of the space, and the third tier will be sold off to telcos at auction.

Such a sale could bring a windfall to the federal government, as carriers have been splashing out billions of dollars to secure the rights to spectrum blocks in and around major US cities. That aside, it's hoped telcos and other network providers will work out a way to freely share the general access tier, much like laptops and other devices share Wi-Fi networks. The Navy will also be able to keep its coastal radar working under the plans.

The FCC is now accepting public comments on the proposals before it moves forward. ®

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