Improving Public Safety Communications in the 4.9 GHz Band
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) takes another major step towards ensuring that the 4940- 4990 MHz band (4.9 GHz band) is efficiently and intensely utilized in support of public safety missions nationwide. To that end, the Commission bolsters the coordinated nationwide approach to the band that it established in its Seventh Report and Order, FCC 23-3, in which it adopted a nationwide Band Manager framework to coordinate operations in the 4.9 GHz band, optimize public safety use, and facilitate the integration of the latest commercially available technologies, including 5G, for the benefit of public safety users. To further these goals--and ensure that the 4.9 GHz band is put to more robust use nationwide in the near term--the 4.9 GHz Band Manager, once selected, will be eligible to apply for a nationwide overlay license and authorized to enter into a sharing agreement with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). Pursuant to this sharing agreement, FirstNet may be permitted to use unassigned spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band as part of its nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN) in a manner that protects incumbent operations. In addition to expanding the Band Manager's responsibilities to include entering into a sharing agreement with FirstNet and establishing rules governing the nationwide Band Manager overlay license, the Commission also reaffirms its commitment to the nationwide Band Manager framework and clarifies the Band Manager's responsibilities to address the new rules we adopt herein.