Why it's getting harder to find sharable federal spectrum

The government is sitting on a goldmine of radio spectrum that could be used to accelerate 5G deployment, but crafting a coordinated policy to get there is complicated. One obvious way is to provide incentives for federal agencies to relinquish their spectrum holdings for commercialization. But too often that's presented as a zero sum game rather than a win-win. Agencies are looking for more innovative ways to share their holdings and perhaps get better capabilities too, said experts at a June 12 spectrum meeting in Washington. Even finding spectrum that can be easily vacated is becoming harder and harder, said David Redl, the Commerce Department's assistant secretary for communications and information and director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. NTIA and other federal agencies are looking to collaborate with industry on how to create a guiding national strategy to implement next-generation wireless services, particularly 5G. Sharing spectrum will be a big part of that push, according to Redl and other spectrum resource and wireless industry experts at the event.