Wireless industry group opposes latest spectrum reform attempt

Once more, legislation addressing some of the nation’s biggest spectrum issues is scheduled for a markup, but it’s not winning any accolades from the U.S. wireless industry’s biggest trade group. The Spectrum and National Security Act – introduced by Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) in April 2024 – was most recently set to be marked up on June 12. That was postponed and rescheduled for Tuesday, June 18. The delay came after the heads of the Commerce Department, Department of Defense (DoD) and Joint Chiefs of Staff asked for edits to address language around dynamic spectrum sharing and spectrum studies, among other things. Their coming together signaled to some the end of a long-time inter-agency dispute. Included in Cantwell’s bill is a directive for the FCC to complete an auction of new licenses for the 12.7-13.25 GHz band. However, the bill doesn’t offer any specific midband spectrum for the FCC to auction – most notably, the lower 3 GHz band is excluded, according to Umair Javed, SVP/Spectrum at CTIA. Besides restoring the FCC’s auction authority for five years, the bill seeks to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and provide $3 billion for the rip and replace program. But it’s mostly about spectrum reform, said New Street Research analyst Blair Levin.