Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan endorsed the House Commerce Committee-approved Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) Wednesday in a letter to bill lead sponsors panel Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. The measure, which House Commerce advanced Wednesday on a 55-0 vote (see 2305240069), would renew the FCC’s auction authority through Sept. 30, 2026. It proposes to allocate up to $14.8 billion in future auction proceeds for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and up to $3.08 billion to fully fund the FCC's Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. “Each of these actions are vital to U.S. competitiveness and national security,” Donovan wrote Rodgers and Pallone. “The lack of spectrum auction authority for the FCC and a strong spectrum pipeline clearly harms CCA members and the customers they serve. Several CCA members are also extremely impacted by the lack of full funding needed” to reimburse providers participating in the rip and replace program. “Beyond the Congressionally-created national security mandate to participate in” rip and replace, “impacted carriers (and the customers and roaming consumers their networks serve) are in imminent jeopardy of network failures and face hard decisions to ‘rip’ but not ‘replace’ due to extreme funding constraints,” Donovan said: The FCC’s upcoming July 15 “deadline to submit a reimbursement claim, triggering the one-year statutory completion timeframe, the continuity of reliable wireless, including emergency services, is at stake in many parts of rural America.”
Wireless Spectrum Auctions
The FCC manages and licenses the electromagnetic spectrum used by wireless, broadcast, satellite and other telecommunications services for government and commercial users. This activity includes organizing specific telecommunications modes to only use specific frequencies and maintaining the licensing systems for each frequency such that communications services and devices using different bands receive as little interference as possible.
What are spectrum auctions?
The FCC will periodically hold auctions of unused or newly available spectrum frequencies, in which potential licensees can bid to acquire the rights to use a specific frequency for a specific purpose. As an example, over the last few years the U.S. government has conducted periodic auctions of different GHz bands to support the growth of 5G services.
The House Commerce Committee’s Wednesday advancement of the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) and panel leaders’ push to enact (see 2305170037) a bill to restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through June 30 (HR-3345) are aimed squarely at putting pressure on Senate negotiators to reach a deal, said lawmakers, congressional aides and others in interviews. The panel advanced an amended version of HR-3565 50-0 and unanimously approved five bipartisan broadband permitting measures but divided sharply along party lines on the American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-3557).
A CTIA report released Wednesday argues U.S. spectrum policy should “attach more weight” to a user’s incentive and ability to defend against cyberattacks, which means policymakers should emphasize the allocation of more spectrum under exclusive-use, licensed frameworks. “The licensed spectrum model drives high standards, accountability, and a high degree of commonality and predictability in the way wireless carriers protect and curate spectrum assets against cyber threats,” the report said: Licensees “have mature operating models for protecting the network as well as for reporting cyber incidents.” Licensed spectrum also ensures “the cybersecurity posture of users aligns with national cybersecurity and broader national security goals.” The paper notes Accenture says the commercial wireless industry has access to only 270 MHz or about 5% of lower mid-band spectrum, 3-8.5 GHz, while 36% is dedicated to unlicensed use. CTIA President Meredith Baker said the findings point to the importance of Congress restoring the FCC’s auction authority (see 2305230067). The paper was written by HardenStance.
Three House Communications Subcommittee priorities drew equal attention during a Tuesday hearing with NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson: leaders’ push for a wide-ranging spectrum legislative package, oversight of federal broadband spending, and renewed Hill interest in reauthorizing the agency’s mandate with an eye to addressing future policy issues. The hearing was partly a curtain-raiser for the Commerce Committee’s planned Wednesday markup of the newly filed Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) and six broadband measures House Communications approved last week (see 2305170037).
FCC commissioners approved a multipart item on the lower and upper parts of the 12 GHz band 4-0 during Thursday's open meeting. FCC officials said a few questions were added, but there were no major changes from the draft (see 2305170039).
T-Mobile emphasized in a new filing at the FCC that giving the company special temporary authority to use licenses bought in the 2.5 GHz band (see 2304060062) would help veterans, after the Department of Veterans Affairs selected the company as its primary wireless provider. The FCC declined to award the licenses, won last year, after its auction authority expired earlier this year. Six hundred Mobile wireless facilities in 47 states near VA facilities “could be immediately enhanced with additional spectrum, at sites covered by the STA request,” said a filing in the FCC’s universal licensing system. “Since T-Mobile submitted the STA request, it has become increasingly evident that Congress does not appear to be prepared to restore the Commission’s authority in the near-term,” the carrier said: “Some at the Commission have asserted that the Commission no longer has authority to process its Auction 108 application. Those circumstances have made it even more important for the Commission to grant T-Mobile’s STA request.”
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., threw a wrench in Senate prospects for quickly passing a new proposal from House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., to restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through June 30 (HR-3345) before the House Communications Subcommittee unanimously advanced it during a Wednesday markup session. The mandate expired in early March after Rounds objected to Senate leaders' bid to pass a House-cleared bill to extend the mandate through May 19 (HR-1108) by unanimous consent (see 2303090074). Rounds told us Tuesday he still won't allow UC passage of any bill to restore the FCC's remit unless it goes through Sept. 30 to give DOD time to complete a study of its systems on the 3.1-3.45 GHz band.
Tower company CEOs expect a strong 2023, with 5G driving carrier investments, and the major carriers all building out mid-band spectrum. Meanwhile, a CTIA official said Thursday the key to the U.S. leading on 6G is getting 5G policy right.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., said during and after a Thursday hearing they’re forming a USF-focused task force to evaluate how to move forward on a comprehensive revamp of the program that may update its contribution factor to include non-wireline entities. Senate Communications members cited several telecom policy matters that intertwine with the push for USF changes, including future funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity fund and restoring the commission’s lapsed spectrum auction authority.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel again prodded Congress Wednesday to allocate an additional $3.08 billion to fully fund the FCC's Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, warning Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that the commission plans to begin prorating reimbursements to participants July 15 unless Congress agrees to bridge the gap by that date. House Commerce Committee aides cited the July 15 deadline Thursday as one of the reasons panel leaders are pressing for a deal as soon as possible on a spectrum legislative package that would allocate some future auction proceeds toward rip and replace.