Federal Communications Commission	FCC 24-28

STATEMENT OF
CHAIRWOMAN JESSICA ROSENWORCEL

Re:  	In the Matter of Single Network Future: Supplemental Coverage from Space, Space Innovation, GN Docket No. 23-65, IB Docket No. 22-271, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (March 14, 2024)

We are fast heading to a world where next-generation wireless networks will connect everyone and everything around us.  They will open up possibilities for communications that we cannot even fully imagine today.  But we will not be successful in our effort to make this always-on connectivity available everywhere if we limit ourselves to using only one technology.  We are going to need it all—fiber networks, licensed terrestrial wireless systems, next-generation unlicensed technology, and satellite broadband.  But if we do this right, these networks will seamlessly interact in a way that is invisible to the user.  We won’t need to think about what network, where, and what services are available.  Connections will just work everywhere, all the time.    
That vision is what we call the Single Network Future—and the opportunities are vast.  But the path to this future is going to require many steps—and we take a huge step forward today. 
In this decision, we bring satellite and wireless communications together.  We do this because their convergence can accomplish more than either network can do on its own.  Together they can end dead zones.  It means when disaster strikes and destroys ground-based systems, we will have a back-up in space.  If that sounds out there, it is because direct satellite-to-smartphone communication is moving from sci-fi fantasy to reality.  
One year ago, I spoke about this vision of the Single Network Future at Mobile World Congress.  When I returned for this year’s event, my counterparts from across the world told me they are watching United States closely.  There is good reason for that—because today at the Federal Communications Commission, we become the first regulator in the world to shape this future.  We are the first country to adopt a framework that combines satellite and wireless service through supplemental coverage from space.  
Here’s what it looks like.  We have developed a framework that allows a satellite operator to partner with a terrestrial mobile carrier to get access to their terrestrial spectrum.  Then the satellite system can provide service directly to the subscribers of the wireless carrier in areas where the carrier lacks coverage.  So there is no need to wait for new spectrum or a new generation of devices.  Satellite operators and their carrier collaborators can use terrestrial spectrum that is already in the market to bring these services to the phones that we have today.  Even better, we accomplish all of this while protecting existing networks from harmful interference by ensuring that the new supplemental satellite operations are secondary to mobile network operations and requiring that one or more carriers hold all co-channel licenses throughout a defined geographically independent area.
To further safely grow these opportunities, we also have a rulemaking.  Recognizing that this new connectivity is powerful when it comes to calling 911 for emergency help, especially in places where terrestrial signals are scarce, we seek comment on how to enable automatic location-based routing of emergency communications.  
This is what the future looks like—a Single Network Future.  Thank you to the many staff responsible for this latest entry in our Space Innovation Agenda, including Melissa Conway, Kamran Etemad, Stacy Ferraro, Garnet Hanly, Kari Hicks, Joyce Jones, Alice Koethe, Susannah Larson, John Lockwood, Jon Markman, Andrew McArdell, Roger Noel, Charles Oliver, Christine Parola, Halie Peacher, Paul Powell, Jessica Quinley, Jeremy Reynolds, Jennifer Salhus, John Schauble, Blaise Scinto, Joel Taubenblatt, and Janet Young, from the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau; Greg Boren, Greg Coutros, Jennifer Gilsenan, Franco Hinojosa, Julie Kearney, Jeanette Kennedy, Whitney Lohmeyer, Kathyrn Medley, Stephanie Neville, Sankar Persaud, Jeanine Poltronieri, and Merissa Velez from the Space Bureau; Bahman Badipour, Jamie Coleman, Martin Doczkat, Michael Ha, Ira Keltz, Nick Oros, Bob Pavlak, Ron Repasi, Tony Serafini, Dana Shaffer, Jim Szeliga, George Tannahill, Dusmantha Tennakoon, Krista Witanowski, and Sean Yun from the Office of Engineering and Technology; Brenda Boykin, Steven Carpenter, Jill Coogan, Gerald English, John Evanoff, David Furth, Shabbir Hamid, Timothy Hoseth, Debra Jordan, David Kirschner, Barbara Kunkel, Brian Marenco, Nicole McGinnis, Erika Olsen, Renee Roland, Rasoul Safavian, David Sieradzki, Rachel Wehr, and James Wiley from the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau; Edward Carlson, Jared Carlson, Nese Guendelsberger, David Hu, Dante Ibarra, Ethan Lucarelli, James McLuckie, and Brandon Moss from the Office of International Affairs; Kim Cook, Kathy Harvey, Jeremy Marcus, Ryan McDonald, and Josh Zeldis from the Enforcement Bureau; Deborah Broderson, Michele Ellison, Michael Janson, Doug Klein, David Konczal, Anjali Singh, and Chin Yoo from the Office of General Counsel; Michael Gussow and Joy Ragsdale from the Office of Communications Business Opportunities; and Judith Dempsey, Catherine Matraves, Giulia McHenry, and Cher Li from the Office of Economics and Analytics.