House Communications to Hear Calls for Swift FCC Spectrum Auction Authority Renewal

Witnesses scheduled for a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing on 5G and spectrum management issues (see 2203090074) urged lawmakers in written testimony to prioritize reauthorizing the FCC’s spectrum auction authority. Witnesses also cite interest in legislation to direct proceeds to pay for other telecom projects and address interagency disputes on frequency allocations. Congress last extended the FCC’s auction authority via the 2012 spectrum law. That authorization will expire Sept. 30. The partly virtual hearing is to begin at 10:30 a.m. in 213 Rayburn.

“We have to look at the whole picture” on spectrum matters, but “we’ll see” whether Commerce Democrats decide to pursue an auction authority extension separate from other matters, given the limited time before the Sept. 30 deadline, said House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chair Doris Matsui, D-Calif., in an interview. Some House Commerce Committee members have been eyeing a two-year auction authority reauthorization before the current authority’s expiration (see 2203040073).

“Spectrum is really important and people don’t really understand how valuable” some frequencies are until “we really get into” auction policymaking, Matsui said: “Then everyone wants to get in the game.” Lawmakers have been noting increased Hill interest in pursuing broader spectrum legislation that aims to address the federal spectrum fracas simultaneously with other related matters, amid criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the high-profile C-band aviation safety fracas that preceded January delays in AT&T and Verizon rolling out commercial 5G use on the frequency (see 2201180065).

House Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, told us he’s going into the hearing with an open mind about how to package legislation on the spectrum issues the subcommittee will examine Wednesday. “I like to have everyone come on in and let’s talk about what the need is out there” before reaching a conclusion, though the auction authority issue is clearly “coming up” soon, he said.

Questions remain about whether Congress should pursue auction reauthorization as part of a comprehensive spectrum measure, given the fast-approaching renewal deadline, communications policy observers said. Lawmakers previously acknowledged it could be difficult to pass such a package during the remainder of this Congress because of the narrow legislative window remaining this year (see 2202070066). Those concerns could make a short-term auction authority extension more attractive because it would buy Congress more time to iron out a longer-term policy direction, some lobbyists said.

Congress should “expeditiously extend the FCC’s auction authority” since they have “never allowed that authority to lapse” since first authorizing the sales in 1993, CTIA Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Scott Bergmann says in written testimony. In all but one renewal, lawmakers used the process as an opportunity “to direct auctions of specific bands for commercial” use and should “do the same this year” by including “a requirement for auctioning specified bands.” Congress should use a reauthorization to “streamline access” to the 3.1-3.45 GHz band via the Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-5378), he says.

Congress should “identify and set clear deadlines for future access to other mid-band spectrum, as well as low- and high-band” frequencies, Bergmann says. He and witnesses cite a wide range of spectrum bands that Congress should address in a renewal measure, including the 1.124-1.164 GHz, 1.3-1.35 GHz, 1.78-1.83 GHz, 7.125-8.4 GHz,12 GHz, 26 GHz, 42 GHz and 50 GHz bands.

Public Knowledge Government Affairs Director Greg Guice and HTC Chief Executive-Corporate Strategy and Analytics Von Todd, a member of the Competitive Carriers Association board, separately cite in their testimony the FCC’s upcoming 2.5 GHz band auction as an important matter. The sale is expected to start in July (see 2203010070), so Congress “should make certain the authority is extended to ensure that this auction can be completed,” Guice says. “If Congress does not extend auction authority” by Sept. 30 and if proceedings on the 2.5 GHz auction “last beyond” that date, “uncertainty creeps into our planning and could hamper our ability to marshal the resources needed to plan and participate in the auction,” Todd says.

Guice urges Congress to specifically target that auction revenue to pay for “public interest needs of” the telecom sector, including “digital equity” programs. PK and other public interest and consumer groups proposed last month that the FCC allocate revenue from future auctions to endow a Digital Equity Foundation to help close the digital divide (see 2202230058). Guice also suggests using sales proceeds to “support the transition to next-generation 911,” which FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel recently proposed (see 2202220057). Other uses “could include creating both a permanent wireless infrastructure fund and a dedicated fund to support upgrading networks to enhance reliability, as well as using funds to address supply chain security concerns,” he says.

Jayne Stancavage, Intel global executive officer-product and digital infrastructure policy, and others suggest Congress weigh in on ways to ensure an end to interagency spectrum disputes but provide few specifics. Several witnesses cite the importance of Rosenworcel and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson reaching their February spectrum coordination agreement, which included plans to update the 2003 FCC-NTIA memorandum of understanding (see 2202150001). House Communications members questioned during a February hearing whether the agreement would be enough to quell the infighting (see 2202160064).

“NTIA must be empowered to represent the various Federal agencies’ views both domestically and internationally to ensure that the domestic preparatory process can function as intended,” Stancavage says. Congress “should make clear” to the executive branch “that it wants NTIA to be the lead agency on spectrum matters,” Cisco Senior Director-Government Affairs Mary Brown says: “That includes NTIA being responsive to its sister agencies, and includes those agencies working through NTIA to advance their concerns during the time when the FCC is building its record.”