At its July open meeting, the FCC voted 3-2 to adopt an Order to commercialize Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band. The Order eliminates educational use requirements, expands the types of entities that can hold EBS licenses, and eliminates leasing restrictions. Existing lease arrangements for incumbent EBS licenses will not be impacted by the Order. Before opening up unassigned EBS spectrum to competitive bidding, the FCC first will open a priority filing window for rural Tribal Nations. The Order also transforms the license areas using county boundaries, splits the band into three parts (2 x ~50 megahertz blocks and a 16.5 megahertz block), and imposes buildout requirements.
