The move is to open up more spectrum to high-speed mobile data services. Under the National Broadband Plan published in 2009, the agency said it would make an additional 500MHz available for those services over a period of 10 years.

Also on Thursday, the FCC approved rules for the use of MBAN (Medical Body Area Network) transmitters for measuring and recording information about patients' conditions. Multiple MBAN radios could be attached to a patient's body, typically in a medical facility, removing the need to attach those sensors to external equipment by wires, the FCC said. The agency also adopted a Notice of Inquiry to explore the use of DACA (Deployable Aerial Communications Architecture) technologies to restore communications in the wake of disaster. DACA technologies could include existing aircraft, weather balloons and unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the FCC. If ground-based networks were out of service, the aerial systems could take over.

The IDG News Service