Department of Defense may be causing the delay in FCC spectrum auction authority

Everybody in the wireless ecosystem is clamoring for Congress to reinstate the spectrum auction authority of the Federal Communications Commission. One former deputy at the FCC speculates that the delay may be related to the Department of Defense (DoD) wanting to wait for a spectrum report that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is working on. NTIA is doing an assessment of the use of the 3.1-3.45 GHz spectrum. Belinda Nixon, a former deputy chief in the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, said the NTIA’s final report on this topic may not be published until this fall. But surely Congress could reinstate the FCC’s auction authority in the meantime with the stipulation that no auction of the 3.1-3.45 GHz spectrum would occur until after the NTIA’s report. “The DoD does have ongoing concerns about the commercialization of the spectrum that [it holds],” said Nixon. “But I think [it has] seen some benefits in some areas where [it] had to share.”