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DC Circuit Upholds FCC's 2024 4.9 GHz Order in Win for FirstNet

Published

22 July 2026

Topic

regulatory

Geography

United States

Source

Read at communicationsdaily.com

Verified

Fusion42 · 22 July 2026 · Fusion42 review

The DC Circuit Court upheld the FCC's 2024 order allowing FirstNet Authority to access underutilised spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band, rejecting challenges from incumbent licensees and public safety groups. The ruling affirmed that FirstNet's statutory mandate to build a nationwide public safety broadband network is not limited to the 700 MHz band and permits use of fallow spectrum.

The Wire takeaway

If you build wireless infrastructure for public safety or critical infrastructure, a large pool of dormant spectrum just became available to a well-funded buyer. FirstNet now has a court-backed route to access 4.9 GHz capacity that incumbent licensees have been sitting on; your technology for spectrum sharing, band management, or dual-use network architecture is now commercially viable.

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Topics

spectrum-regulation · firstnet · 4-9-ghz · public-safety-broadband · fcc-ruling