On Friday March 27, in response to rural communities need for broadband access during the COVID-19 crisis, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) relaxed its rules on the use of the 5.9ghz frequency. This will allow rural Internet Service Providers (ISP) to provide faster and more reliable broadband internet service to homes in hard to reach areas that more traditional cable internet connections have difficulty providing service to.

Many homes in rural Washington rely on Over the Air (OTA) connections using directional antennas to receive their internet connection. Cable internet, for some homes, is not practical because of the long distances between the ISP equipment and the home. The FCC over the last few years has been performing field studies on the mostly underutilized 5.9ghz band and has decided to release 45mhz of the spectrum for use, ahead of schedule, to aid in the COVID-19 crisis. Currently the additional spectrum is available for 60 days.

The additional spectrum can improve speeds from a lower 5-15mb over cable (when available) up to 60mb over broadband wireless with much greater availability.

This is one of the key tenets Washington Policy Center supports to help with the COVID-19 crisis.

Chairman Pai FCC Chairman recently announced the ‘Keep Americans Connected Pledge’. This is critical for workers now at home who are trying to meet the social distancing requirements for the community. The telecommunications industry has been asked to pledge,

1. Not to terminate service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
2. Waive any late fees that any residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic.
3. Open its Wi-Fi hotspots to any American who needs them.

The opening of the additional spectrum is good policy to help rural Washington in this time of crisis.