There is a debate going around Capitol Hill recently, and it isn’t about the hot button issues you might be thinking of.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is facing off against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) when it comes to selling off 5G wireless frequencies to cell phone companies that would allow users to access data faster and in more places.
In May of this year, the FCC stopped accepting bids radio frequency bandwidths from cell phone companies. Almost 30 companies placed bids on over 3,000 license options the FCC was offering them, bringing in over $2 billion.
The goal for cellular companies making these bids is to provide a faster, better 5G cellular experience to their customers. Places like Tokyo and Seoul already have incredibly fast cellular service, with the US lagging far behind. Moves like this plan to help close that gap.
NOAA is strongly against the FCC’s moves, and not because they are against better cell phone service. The frequency band is directly next to the one that federal scientists used to monitor water vapor emissions in the atmosphere. This band directly helps them predict and monitor hurricanes and serious weather phenomena.
These signals that they pick up from this band are already faint, just because of the nature of water vapor and how they monitor it. There is no way to ‘boost’ the signal they are getting anymore.
The concern from NOAA is that the ‘loudness’ of the frequency next to theirs is going to directly interfere with their ability to pick up these faint signals. If the signal next to them is too loud, it will drown out any data they are able to collect. This could mean fewer warnings for those in major hurricane impact zones, which may ultimately result in the loss of life.
The FCC is arguing that NOAA is needlessly worried because they already have set standards and guidelines in place for the new cellular bandwidth that will help keep the noise to a minimum, ensuring NOAA keeps their data. However, scientists say this isn’t even close to enough.
The deputy administrator of NOAA went before a congressional committee and laid out the facts for them as their agency saw it. If the FCC goes through with this, and regulations aren’t changed, this move could see a reduction of 77% of the data they get from passive microwave sounding instruments. Ultimately it could degrade forecasting accuracy bo as much as 30%, bringing the world of weather forecasting back to 1978.
The director went on to give the best example he could offer – Hurricane Sandy, which hit the east coast hard in 2012. Accurate weather forecasts showed it approaching land days before it hit, giving residents time to secure their property and evacuate. Had this FCC bandwidth been too ‘loud’ during this time, projections would have shown the hurricane moving out to sea instead.
FCC’s chairman Ajit Pai still believes that this is the right move by them, and has vowed to keep working to make the deal happen, no matter what NOAA has to say about it. Only time will tell, but it does raise the question: Would you rather have better cell service or an accurate 7-day weather prediction?
