House passes Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to create a trust fund to help move spectrum from the government to the private sector.
Lawmakers passed the measure by a vote of 408 to 10, paving the way for the government to sell to commercial users spectrum now used by federal agencies. The proceeds would then be put in a trust fund to cover the cost of moving those agencies to another piece of spectrum.
The Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act must be approved by the Senate and signed by the President before becoming law. The bill has received the endorsement of the military, the Bush administration and industry groups such as the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA).
Sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., the act provides a funding mechanism to help federal agencies relocate to open spectrum for private wireless carriers’ advanced wireless services.
Under current law, a commercial venture must win a spectrum license at a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction and then negotiate with an affected federal agency for the price and timetable for the agency to move to another band. The new bill requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, to provide a cost estimate and timeframe for relocation before the auction.
The FCC then will auction the spectrum, but cannot close until the bidding equals at least 110 percent of the estimated relocation cost. The winning bidder’s money will be placed in a trust fund and the relocating agency will draw from that fund.