Biden administration unveils National Spectrum Strategy, but future of lower 3 GHz remains unclear

U.S. officials yesterday expressed hope that spectrum in the critical 3.1-3.45 GHz band could be auctioned in the future under certain conditions, but the timeline for such bidding and specifics for the conditions were not unveiled as the Biden administration yesterday released its “National Spectrum Strategy” document.

Labeled as “a high-level policy statement,” the 26-page spectrum strategy does not designate the future use of any airwaves. Instead, it calls on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to collaborate with the FCC to study 2,786 MHz of spectrum in five bands licensed to federal-government agencies—notably those within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)—and collaboratively determine whether the frequencies can be used commercially.

Perhaps the most notable of these is the 3.1-3.45 GHz band, which federal lawmakers have cited in legislation for a future spectrum auction. Multiple bills have proposed that the proceeds from such an auction be used to pay for the bulk of a nationwide transition from legacy 911 to IP-based next-generation 911 (NG911).

However, some in Congress opposed the advancement of such legislative language until a DoD study determined whether any of the national-security applications operating in the lower 3 GHz band could be impacted negatively by the presence of commercial operations on the spectrum. The spectrum-strategy document offered a hint at the findings of that study.

“Pursuant to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD) has studied the possibility of sharing this 350 megahertz of spectrum with the private sector,” according to the National Spectrum Strategy. “DoD’s studies helped to determine whether this band should be reallocated for shared Federal and non-Federal use and licensed through auction.

“DoD determined that sharing is feasible, if certain advanced interference-mitigation features and a coordination framework to facilitate spectrum sharing are put in place.”

Exactly what interference-mitigation rules would have to be followed for commercial entities to use the 3.1-3.45 GHz airwaves were not mentioned in the National Spectrum Strategy. How limiting these rules are perceived to be could impact the value that wireless carriers and other potential place on the spectrum, if it is auctioned eventually.

In the past, CTIA—the primary trade association for U.S. wireless, including Verizon and AT&T—has questioned the spectrum-sharing regime used in the nearby CBRS band, although CBRS proponents have disagreed with this position.

CTIA President and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker yesterday expressed optimism about the National Spectrum Strategy, particularly the portions addressing the study of airwaves at 3.1-3.45 GHz and at 7.124-8.400 GHz.

“We applaud the administration’s National Spectrum Strategy and the President’s commitment to establishing a pipeline of 5G licensed spectrum to drive future innovation and jobs,” Baker said in a prepared statement. “It is a critical first step, and we fully support their goal of making the 7-8 GHz band available for 5G wireless broadband and their decision to re-study all options for future full-power commercial access to the lower 3 GHz band.”

Other spectrum bands to be studied under the National Spectrum Strategy are 5.030-5.091 GHz, 18.1-18.6 GHz, and 37.0-37.8 GHz.

Of course, studying and identifying spectrum that could be used for commercial purposes are not the only steps that must be completed for airwaves to be auctioned. Congress also would need to reinstate the FCC’s spectrum-auction authority—or give it to another agency—before such an auction could be conducted.

Reinstating the FCC’s spectrum-auction authority, which was allowed to expire earlier this year, has been included in legislative language that would have used the proceeds from a 3.1-3.45 GHz auction to fully fund the ‘rip and replace’ program and pay for NG911 deployment efforts nationwide.

This package appeared to have bipartisan support last year, but none of the items were integrated into the omnibus spending bill that was enacted. Now, a standalone “rip and replace” funding bill has been introduced in the House and the Biden administration has expressed support for such funding. Meanwhile, efforts to reinstate the FCC’s spectrum-auction authority and to fund NG911 have not gathered any tangible momentum on Capitol Hill.