Dish’s Ergen Lobbies FCC Staff on Opening 12 GHz Band for 5G

Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen and other top executives from the company met with FCC staff to push for action on 5G in the 12 GHz band. “The 12 GHz band represents 500 megahertz of spectrum that is well-suited for terrestrial, two-way 5G use cases, while still protecting satellite operations,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 19-348: “Given that the enormous benefits of allowing 5G terrestrial operations in the 12 GHz band can be realized without interfering with existing operations, the Commission should act expeditiously to unlock the power of 5G-ready spectrum in this band.” The Dish officials also asked the FCC to increase authorized power levels in the citizens broadband radio service band. Dish met with staff from the Wireless and International bureaus and Office of Engineering & Technology. The FCC has faced continuing pressure to act on the 12 GHz band from the 5G for 12 GHz Coalition (see 2203210056). Ergen thinks the 12 GHz band is “the ideal frequency” for fixed wireless, he said on a quarterly earnings call Friday (see 2205070001).