During the June 4 celebration of the Free State Foundation’s 20th anniversary, Arielle Roth, currently the Administrator for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), participated in a keynote conversation with former FCC Commissioner and Free State Foundation Adjunct Senior Fellow Michael O’Rielly. Administrator Roth used the occasion to discuss the Administration’s plans for auctioning the 2.7 GHz band of spectrum.
NTIA is under a congressional directive to release 500 Megahertz of federal spectrum to be reallocated for commercial licensed use. “The work is on us to get it done in a timely manner and we hope to meet or hopefully exceed our deadlines and targets,” said Administrator Roth.
The Administration is working on the 2.7 GHz band. NTIA “fully agrees” that this band should be devoted to commercial licensed use. A tech panel consisting of the Office of Management and Budget, the Federal Communications Commission, and NTIA recently signed off on spectrum relocation funds so that the incumbent leadership can perform the engineering studies needed to transfer control.
These efforts are currently in the middle of a statutory waiting period of 60 days for notifying Congress of the recommended transfer. This period ends June 30th after which NTIA can use spectrum relocation funds to conduct the engineering work so that the spectrum can be identified and hopefully auctioned as soon as possible.
Administrator Roth's remarks regarding the progress in getting spectrum in the 2.7 GHz band transferred for private sector commercial use are encouraging.
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