House Commerce Committee Backs FCC Spectrum Auctions

The House Energy and Commerce Committee Communications Subcommittee gave a big thumbs up to extending the Federal Communications Commission's ability to raise tens of billions of dollars through the treasury with spectrum auctions, not to mention freeing up spectrum in the process for Wi-Fi. The subcommittee voted unanimously to favorably report the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act of 2022, which would extend the FCC's spectrum auction authority, which otherwise would expire September 30 of this year, to March 21, 2024. Also favorably reported were:

1. The Ensuring Phone and Internet Access for SNAP (supplemental nutrition program) Recipients Act of 2021;
2. The Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) Codification Act;
3. The Preventing Disruptions to Universal Service Funds Act;
4. The Simplifying Management, Access, Reallocation, and Transfer of Spectrum (SMART) Act;
5. The Safe Connections Act of 2022; and
6. The Spectrum Innovation Act of 2022.