WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission took initial steps to open a new wireless frontier on Thursday, proposing rules to encourage development of a bigger, faster fifth-generation, or 5G, network.
The FCC action marks a small but significant advance toward the creation of the architecture that industry experts increasingly believe will be needed in years to come.
That is partly because of the explosive growth in wireless traffic as more people buy smartphones. It is also because of a range of expected new uses for wireless communications, including the so-called Internet of things as well as telemedicine, ultra-high-definition video, autonomous vehicles and other innovations.
The 5G network, under discussion for the past few years by regulators, researchers and high-tech companies, could begin its rollout around the world by roughly 2020, assuming some engineering challenges can be overcome.
While the new network’s standards and even basic definitions remain matters of debate, many experts believe a key to 5G will be figuring out ways to make use of higher-band radio spectrum that has long been thought to be unsuited for commercial wireless purposes.
That is largely because radio waves in those frequencies are easily disrupted.
Now, though, new technologies are being developed that could better utilize the higher-band spectrum. This could be especially useful for augmenting mobile-network capacity in urban areas, and for providing better service inside large buildings, according to FCC documents.
The FCC’s action on Thursday begins to create a regulatory framework for making greater use of that higher-band spectrum. Use of the high-band spectrum would be just one part of the 5G network, which likely would weave together a patchwork of different technologies.
Republican commissioners criticized the FCC action for not going far enough. Chairman Tom Wheeler noted that the new proposed rules amounted to a “huge increase” in commercial spectrum authorization and promised more steps soon.
The new 5G network has the potential to reshape the communications industry in significant ways.
Wheeler, in opening the commission’s inquiry into the use of higher-band spectrum over the last year, said the new 5G “will not be just better, faster and cheaper, it likely will be something fundamentally different from what is possible today.”
“The FCC is taking an important step toward our 5G future by making more spectrum available for mobile broadband,” said Meredith Attwell Baker, CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association, a wireless industry trade group. She urged more effort to free up low- and mid-band spectrum as well.
Given the high stakes, many tech companies have been meeting with FCC officials to pass on research and compare notes. Even at this early stage, some industry groups are looking to lay claim to parts of the expected new capacity.
CTIA, for example, has argued for the FCC to license as much of the higher-band spectrum as is practicable. “Exclusive-use licensing has proven to attract investment in mobile broadband while also sparking wide-spread innovation,” the trade group argued in comments earlier this year.
On the other hand, the Consumer Electronics Association has argued that the FCC shouldn’t focus solely on mobile broadband services, but should recognize that the higher bands “also are proving to hold great promise for meeting a wide range of other service needs,” such as smart appliances.
