Pentagon Wants To Share Spectrum With Broadband Providers, Not Auction It

The Pentagon no longer plans to hand over to industry spectrum it now considers vital to national security, a reversal from a broad policy position outlined by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in March 2012.

The new Defense Department spectrum strategy, as detailed by Chief Information Officer Teri Takai, calls for sharing spectrum with industry, as well as Defense efforts to develop technologies for more efficient use of spectrum. NTIA said in 2012 that it was possible to repurpose all spectrum in the 1755-1850 MHz band used by Defense for, among other things, Army battlefield communications and small unmanned aerial systems.