NTIA's $18 billion spectrum reallocation plan would force battlefield networks to move

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration said it would cost $18 billion to reallocate 95MHz of federal spectrum for commercial use and take at least a decade to complete.

NTIA released the findings in a detailed analysis of the plan. The agency wants to move more than 3,100 individual frequency assignments of 20 federal agencies out of the 1755-1850 MHz frequency band to other bands. It will pay for this shift from auctions of spectrum to commercial providers. "Current law requires that auction proceeds exceed expected federal relocation costs. Since federal relocation costs are expected to be high, any repurposing option needs to promote economic value while ensuring no loss of critical federal capabilities," NTIA said. The reallocation plan calls for shifting two key Army battlefield network systems, Warfighter Information Network-Tactical and the backpack version of the Joint Tactical Radio System, the agency said in an appendix to the analysis.