FCC’s spectrum auction authority nears March expiration

The top Republican and Democrat on the House Commerce Committee are working to avert a lapse, in March 2023, of the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to auction spectrum as Congress seeks a more lasting plan that could pay for a number of telecommunications priorities.  Auctions of the spectrum have been a financial boon for the government. But there are often competing pressures over which frequencies to sell to the private sector and what to do with the money. The FCC auctions to commercial companies have raised more than $258 billion for the US Treasury since 1994. The House passed by voice vote February 27 legislation backed by House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) that would extend the authority through May 19, 2023. The House's passage leaves the Senate a narrow window to clear the measure for the President’s signature before the FCC’s authority to conduct spectrum auctions expires on March 9.