WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-0 on Thursday, October 29, to let drones operate in the 800 MHz Cellular band, ending a 35-year-old airborne ban and opening 50 MHz of licensed, nationwide spectrum — 824–849 MHz and 869–894 MHz — to uncrewed aircraft. Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioners Anna Gomez and Olivia Trusty approved the Report and Order, FCC 26-72, at the agency’s October open meeting.
Why it matters
The order adds an exemption to Section 22.925 of the FCC’s rules, which has barred airborne use of cellular-band devices since 1991 to prevent phones from tripping multiple cell towers at once from altitude. The agency’s release says the restriction “is no longer necessary as applied to unmanned aircraft systems.” Drones will operate as mobile stations communicating through ground-based carrier infrastructure under the FCC’s existing Part 22 licensing rules, subject to the same power and field-strength limits as other cellular devices, and under every applicable FAA rule. The agency named precision agriculture, utility and pipeline inspection, search and rescue, wildfire monitoring, and last-mile delivery as use cases the extra spectrum is meant to serve.
The vote does not, by itself, authorize routine beyond-visual-line-of-sight flight. That depends on the FAA’s long-delayed Part 108 rule, which the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 required within 16 months of the agency’s August 2025 proposal — a deadline of December 7, 2026, now 39 days away. Until Part 108 is final, DroneXL reports, an operator with a stronger cellular link still needs a waiver or exemption to fly BVLOS.
“Reliable connectivity is essential to routine beyond visual line of sight flight, and more spectrum, used flexibly, helps the industry scale.”
AUVSI, in a statement posted by the FCC ahead of the vote
The FCC posted support statements from AT&T, Verizon, CTIA, Amazon, Red Cat, Ondas and AUVSI two days before the vote. Amazon vice president of public policy Ashleigh de la Torre said “reliable wireless communications are essential” as drone-delivery demand grows. No commenter opposed the change in the underlying record, according to DroneXL’s review of the docket. The commission’s next drone-spectrum vote, covering 450 MHz control links and 24 GHz detection radar, is scheduled for November 19.
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