The FCC has found good cause to grant Public Safety Spectrum Alliance’s (PSSA) petition to stay the adoption of a new leasing framework for the 4.9 GHz band, a shared spectrum band, pending a Commission decision on multiple petitions for reconsideration. The new leasing plan, adopted in the Sixth Report and Order, would enable a single statewide licensee to lease its spectrum rights to third parties regardless of whether or not they conduct public safety operations. The FCC concluded that a stay was appropriate because of the possibility of irreparable harm to public safety users in the 4.9 GHz band.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr issued a dissenting statement expressing his disappointment in the Commission’s decision to stay the 4.9 GHz band order because in doing so, he argued, the Commission would revert to the past disadvantageous spectrum framework.
