STATEMENT OF 
ACTING CHAIRWOMAN MIGNON CLYBURN
Re: Service Rules for Advanced Wireless Services H Block – Implementing Section 6401 of the        
Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 Related to the 1915-1920 MHz and 1995-
2000 MHz Bands, WT Docket No 12-357
The mobile revolution shows no signs of stalling.  In fact, by all accounts, it continues to gain 
incredible momentum. Fifteen percent of all global Internet traffic is mobile -- up from just one percent 
when I arrived at the Commission just under four years ago.  In 2009, about 16 percent of Americans had 
smartphones.  That number had risen to 56% by 2012, and we have every reason to believe it has trended 
upward in 2013.  I’ve said it many times, but it still amazes me, that the commercial tablet market didn’t 
even exist in 2009, but, a projected 229 million tablets will ship this year surpassing the sales for portable 
PCs.
These trends affirm how clear our job really is.  The Commission must continue to ensure that the 
Nation’s wireless networks have the capacity, speed, and ubiquity, to keep pace with consumers’ 
expectations, and their ever rising demand, for mobile services.  That is why the National Broadband Plan 
set an ambitious goal of freeing up 300 megahertz of spectrum for broadband by 2015, through the use of 
a variety of traditional strategies, and new policy innovations, like incentive auctions, spectrum sharing, 
and next-generation unlicensed use, and I am pleased to confirm, that the Commission is on track, to 
exceed this target.
The adoption of these rules, today, is a continuation of our important work, toward that goal.  We 
are enabling 10 MHz of paired spectrum that makes up the H Block, for flexible use, including mobile 
broadband service.  Specifically, we are adopting licensing, technical and service rules for the H Block 
that will allow the full 10 MHz, to be used for mobile broadband service, while providing adequate 
protection, to the neighboring bands.  Importantly, the item adopts technical rules, to help ensure, that H 
Block operations do not cause harmful interference, to the PCS downlink spectrum, just as Congress 
directed.  
This is no small feat.  The FCC, led by our world-class engineers, has been working on a sensible 
approach to the use of this spectrum, since 2004.  I for one am pleased that advances in wireless 
broadband technology have allowed us to craft rules, for the efficient use of the H block, finally allowing 
us to release this spectrum, into the marketplace.
With this item, the Commission takes another critical step, toward implementing the Middle 
Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 directive, to license 65 MHz of spectrum for flexible use 
by February 2015.  It is also consistent with the President’s encouragement to “expedite the repurposing 
of spectrum, and otherwise enable innovative and flexible commercial uses of spectrum, including 
broadband, to be deployed as rapidly as possible.”  
I’d like to thank my colleagues for their collaboration on this item, and also thank the staff of the 
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and Office of Engineering and Technology, for presenting us with 
such a thoughtful item.