Rep Guthrie Wants FCC Spectrum Auction Pipeline to Raise $88 Billion

A House budget bill needs to find a big pot of revenue, and it looks like Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr will be handed the job. Under a newly unveiled budget plan, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep Brett Guthrie (R-KY) said he wants the FCC to raise $88 billion over the next nine years by auctioning off at least 600 megahertz of spectrum. Rep Guthrie’s plan appeared to hand a major political victory for the big mobile carriers—AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile—that want to perpetuate a licensed spectrum regime. Comcast and Charter—which favor an unlicensed spectrum scheme with sharing attributes—likely need to find support for their approach in the Senate. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is set to mark up the draft language on May 13.