Biden FCC Nominee Prompts New Questions

Gigi Sohn

President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve on the Federal Communications Commission could come with yet another caveat regarding a battle between billionaires Elon Musk and Michael Dell over spectrum for internet access, reports FOX Business.

Several tech executives and advocacy groups want to allocate a public resource known as 12 GHz spectrum in a way that critics say would block out satellite internet services that are already delivering connectivity to hundreds of thousands of Americans across rural America. Satellite internet services have been a means for delivering internet service to rural America and tribal lands, particularly in mountainous regions. 

Biden’s FCC nominee, Gigi Sohn, is tied to two advocacy groups lobbying for the spectrum change. However, she hasn’t taken a formal stance on the issue during her confirmation hearing.

"If you set aside satellites only for extremely rural areas, ultimately the business model will not work," Jim Dunstan, general counsel for TechFreedom, told FOX Business. "Starlink and other companies still need a subscriber base. They still need suburbs and urban areas. If satellites have to compete against the local cable or phone companies, that doesn’t help the satellite guys." 

In some instances, this places the satellite companies in direct competition with local government-owned companies that have an advantage over private companies, Dunstan said. 

"For municipal-owned utilities, municipal governments can play stupid government tricks and can make life miserable for competitors," Dunstan said. "To deploy 12 GHz to 5G, you would take away from the satellite guys. It’s great for urban areas, but the 5G is not more likely to get to rural areas. This would rob the rural areas to pay the urban."

MSD Capital, a private money management firm linked to Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Technologies, has called for the FCC to adopt a new policy for 12 GHz. 

This policy could also have a particular impact on the Musk-owned Starlink firm that provides internet access to about 250,000 homes and businesses. In 2020, SpaceX urged the FCC not to expand the availability of the 12GHz spectrum. 

However, the two spectrums — 5G and 12GHz — can co-exist without interfering with one another, contends Chip Pickering, CEO of Incompass and co-chairman of the 5G for 12GHz Coalition. 

Moreover, Pickering doesn’t think approval of expanding the GHz spectrum relies on Sohn’s confirmation. 

"I don’t see this depending on her confirmation. We think this has been a completely bipartisan process," Pickering, a former Republican House member, told Fox News. "In the race with China for 5G, this gives us an advantage in connecting every American, in rural areas especially, as well as urban areas. What we have now is a great waste of one of the most valuable strategic assets we have." 

If confirmed, Sohn would be the third Democrat on the FCC, currently split 2-2. 

Sohn is a senior fellow at the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, an organization that is part of the 5G for 12 GHz Coalition. 

The 5G for 12GHz Coalition includes Dell Technologies. The Benton Institute board of directors includes Mignon Clyburn, a former FCC commissioner and daughter of House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C.