House passes bill to extend FCC spectrum-auction authority to May

House members this week passed a bill that would extend the FCC’s authority to auction spectrum until May, leaving the Senate to approve the legislation before the agency’s existing auction authority expires on March 9.

Introduced by Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and co-sponsored by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N..J.), H.R. 1108 would extend the FCC spectrum-auction authority from next Thursday to May 19. The bill was passed by the House in a voice vote on Monday, according to information about the bill available at www.congress.gov.

“Spectrum policy is national-security policy,” according to a joint statement from Rodgers and Pallone. “Extending the FCC’s spectrum-auction authority is critical for strengthening American leadership in innovation and our global competitive edge against China, making it all the more important to get the job done.

“We applaud the passage of H.R. 1108, which will help ensure we have the time necessary to work with our Senate colleagues to adopt a strong spectrum policy for America to win the future of wireless technology.”

FCC auctions of radio spectrum have generated hundreds of billions of dollars for the U.S. government during the past three decades, so industry sources have expressed confidence that Congress will not allow the agency’s auction authority to expire. However, the lack of any identified airwaves to auction at the moment reduces the urgency for lawmakers to approve a long-term FCC auction-authorization period, according to sources.

Enactment of H.R. 1108 next week would keep alive the hopes that legislation providing the FCC with longer-term auction authority could include language that would fund key initiatives for the public-safety and commercial-communications sectors: the transition to IP-based next-generation 911 (NG911) technology and the FCC’s “rip and replace” program, which is designed to rid U.S. commercial telecom networks of gear made by China-based vendors like Huawei and ZTE.

Such legislation was introduced in the last Congress, as the House passed the Spectrum Innovation Act. That bill would have extended the FCC spectrum-auction authority for 18 months and called for the FCC to auction at least 200 MHz of airwaves in the 3.1-3.45 GHz band. Proceeds from that auction would first provide $3.4 billion for the “rip and replace” program, with up to $10 billion from the auction proceeds—if available—being used to pay for the NG911 transition nationwide.

But this bill was not considered in the Senate. Instead, considerable work was done to revamp the language in the House bill and include it as an amendment in the omnibus budget bill. However, the NG911 language was not included in the omnibus package that Congress approved in December.

Historically, 911 centers have been funded almost entirely by funds controlled by state and local governments. While significant federal funding for 911 systems would be welcomed by the public-safety community, some representatives in the sector have indicated that they would like to see changes to the NG911 funding language that was included in the bill that passed the House last year.

In particular, many public-safety representatives have expressed concern that the NG911 funding might not be available for several years, given the time it would take to identify spectrum and conduct an auction.

With this in mind, the Public Safety Next Generation 911 Coalition and iCERT have asked that the NG911 grant program immediate borrowing power to enable quick access to funding. Precedent for such borrowing authority exists, as the FirstNet Authority was allowed to borrow up to $2 billion of its authorized $7 billion while awaiting full funding via FCC auction proceeds.