FCC Approves 50 MHz of Cellular Spectrum for Enhanced Drone Operations
- Published
- Source
- Dronelife.com
On October 29, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to lift a long-standing restriction on drone usage of the 800 MHz Cellular band, thereby opening 50 megahertz of licensed spectrum for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This decision allows drones to utilize the spectrum for essential operations such as command, control, communications, and payload functions.
The FCC's ruling is significant as it removes a regulatory barrier that has hindered drone communications within an existing licensed cellular band since 1991. The agency concluded that modern wireless technologies can effectively prevent interference with ground-based cellular services, making the previous restriction unnecessary for UAS.
The FCC's decision, encapsulated in Report and Order FCC 26-72, marks a pivotal moment for drone operations. The Commission is also exploring further ways to expand spectrum access for UAS, although no new dedicated spectrum allocation for drones has been established at this time. No further timeline was disclosed at the time of publication.
Original report
FCC Opens 50 MHz of Cellular Spectrum for Drone Operations
Dronelife.com · Miriam McNabbThis briefing is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting and is provided for industry information and news discovery. The original report and source publication are credited and linked where applicable. RobotToday does not claim ownership of third-party source material.
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