On January 23, the House Subcommittee on Communications & Technology will hold a hearing titled "Strengthening American Leadership in Wireless Technology." The hearing will feature witness testimony addressing spectrum management, licensed versus unlicensed spectrum, spectrum auction authority, international harmonization, and radio access networks (RANs).
The hearing is important because next-generation wireless networks are vital to our nation's economic vitality and competitive. Also, the hearing is timely because there is an urgent need for more spectrum dedicated to commercial wireless use, particularly licensed spectrum and especially spectrum in the mid-band range (1 GHz to 7 GHz).
Wireless device connections and mobile data usage are rising sharply each year, with demand rising ever-higher in the years to come. Unfortunately, the U.S. supply of licensed spectrum is likely to fall short absent the reallocation of additional spectrum from government occupancy to private commercial use. At this moment, there is no spectrum waiting in the wings to be repurposed for commercial use, despite federal agencies using or at least occupying significant amounts of spectrum resources. To make matters more difficult, the FCC's general authority to conduct spectrum license auctions and issues licenses to auction bid winners lapsed in 2023.
The 119th Congress and the Trump Administration should take decisive action to replenish the stock of mid-band spectrum and revive the Commission's auction authority. The first Trump Administration's National Spectrum Strategy stalled out, and the Biden Administration's National Spectrum has been criticized for its painful slowness and overstudying instead of producing results. Whatever has come before now, every available good option for fast-tracking and getting more spectrum into private use should be pursued and a re-stocked spectrum pipeline made into reality.
The House Subcommittee's January 23 spectrum hearing memo is available here. Hopefully, the hearing will lead to prompt concrete action in the 119th Congress on spectrum and other important wireless policy issues.
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