Spectrum

Section 9203 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA 21) calls for the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to submit a report to Congress containing a plan for the modernization and automation of the NTIA infrastructure relating to managing federal spectrum use by covered agencies, to more efficiently manage such use. This provides the modernization plan and addresses the topics called out in the NDAA 21.

At the Federal Communications Commission, we are focusing on five key principles to help guide our 5G future.

Small wireless carriers expressed dissatisfaction and concern about several aspects of their business at the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) Annual Convention. They’re concerned that digital-divide money will all go toward fiber, that Universal Service Funds (USF) are drying up, that their spectrum needs are being ignored, and that they’ve missed the boat on private wireless.

Although he’d be all for it, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is doubtful that a new spectrum screen would be implemented anytime soon, including before upcoming 5G mid-band spectrum auctions. AT&T filed a petition in September 2021 asking the FCC to establish a mid-band spectrum screen, pointing to T-Mobile’s vast 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum holdings thanks in large part to its merger with Sprint.

The digital divide has remained stubbornly persistent for decades, even as the internet has become steadily more inextricable from daily life, business, health care, and education. Research group BroadbandNow estimates that 42 million Americans have no broadband access, while a depressing 120 million people in the US are without any connection fast enough to even call the internet, according to Microsoft. These disparities are particularly severe among Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and rural communities.

Spectrum policy leadership and planning are critical to complete the US 5G ecosystem while planning for the next-generation wireless technology, 6G. It’s also essential to shed some mistakes of the past. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has indicated that a “whole of government” effort is critical to 5G leadership, and she’s right.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo redoubles her call for the Biden administration to develop a national spectrum strategy in remarks before the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)'s annual Spectrum Symposium. Putting together such a strategy was a priority for former President Donald Trump, but one that was never fully developed.

The next US mid-band spectrum auction is set to start on October 5 for spectrum in the 3.45 GHz range. The deadline to resubmit incomplete applications and upfront payments was September 7, so the Federal Communications Commission should soon be releasing a final list of participating bidders. AT&T, Dish and T-Mobile all submitted applications, while Verizon was on the incomplete list as of the initial filing deadline. AT&T appears to be favored to spend the most on 3.45 GHz spectrum, followed by T-Mobile and Dish.

Duane Stanley, an official with the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office, is the latest to sound the alarm about a wireless industry plan to sunset its legacy 3G network in the coming months.