US Department of Defence clears mid-band spectrum for 5G

The US Department of Defence (DoD) on August 10th announced that 100 megahertz of 'contiguous, coast-to-coast' mid-band spectrum would be made available for commercial 5G deployment.

The DoD has revealed that the department will make airwaves between 3.45GHz and 3.55GHz currently employed for radar operations available for shared use with commercial operators.

DoD Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy stated the spectrum will be auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) once service rules for the band are established.

He added the band is expected to use a sharing scheme similar to that previously employed to coordinate federal and non-federal usage in the AWS-3 band.

The White House in a statement has said, "With high speeds, improved reliability, and low latency, 5G will improve every industry and the lives of all Americans. It can travel long distances to ensure that all Americans have access to the networks while delivering ultra-fast speeds and high performance that will power the technologies of the future. The availability of more mid-band spectrum is a key factor in driving widespread 5G access across rural America."

"With 5G networks already available to more than 250 million Americans, we have made significant strides. The availability of more mid-band spectrum is a key factor in driving widespread 5G access across rural America," the statement added.

The US mobile industry applauded this move by the Trump administration and DoD to free up more key mid-band spectrum for 5G with the auction of an additional 100MHz.