Five takeaways from Biden’s new national spectrum strategy

The Biden administration today released its national spectrum strategy, which identifies 2,786MHz of spectrum across five bands for new uses, including 5G and 6G. It also sets up a process for releasing additional spectrum, developing new spectrum management techniques and preventing interference.

Specifically, the report points to spectrum in bands including the lower 3GHz band, the 7GHz band, the 18GHz band and the 37GHz band for possible commercial uses, from wireless broadband to satellite operations to drone management.

The release is an important one for the US wireless industry, which continues to argue that it does not have enough spectrum to keep pace with demand. According to those in the industry, those worries have been exacerbated by the progress other countries, including China, have made in freeing spectrum for commercial pursuits.

“Today is a key step towards the future spectrum auctions we need,” wrote CTIA, the US wireless industry’s primary trade association, in a reaction to the release of the plan Monday. “Failure to make this spectrum available risks America’s economic competitiveness and national security.”

“We hope this reallocation will help correct the midband spectrum imbalance that currently prioritizes unlicensed and federal uses – a disparity that fails to meet Americans’ ever-accelerating demand for mobile connectivity and neglects licensed spectrum’s place as the foundation of our wireless ecosystem,” AT&T’s Rhonda Johnson, EVP of federal regulatory relations, said in a reaction to the plan.

The release of the plan is also noteworthy because it has been a topic of discussion among federal regulators for years. President Trump signed a presidential memorandum in 2018 calling for the creation of a new national strategy for 5G spectrum – though he never followed through with the effort. Biden administration officials have been discussing the topic for years now. It’s unclear what might happen to the new plan if Biden does not win reelection, though some analysts believe it could survive in a different administration.

Here are five takeaways from Biden’s new plan:

1. It’s evolutionary, not revolutionary

Biden’s new national spectrum strategy mostly builds on efforts already underway. It also doesn’t contain any real surprises, new strategies or new spectrum bands to develop.

Some Republicans took aim at that situation. “The Biden administration’s much anticipated spectrum plan does not commit to making even a single MHz of spectrum available,” wrote Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr – a frequent critic of the Biden administration’s policies – on social media. “The administration’s continued inaction on spectrum undermines US leadership and makes it harder to bring Americans across the digital divide.”

But others offered a different perspective. “The big thing is the new processes for resolving interagency complaints,” wrote Harold Feld, of public-interest group Public Knowledge, on social media. “This has been a root cause of nearly all the issues in spectrum policy over the last 5 or so years.”

Indeed, the 5G industry suffered a very public black eye over concerns that transmissions in C-band spectrum could affect aircraft altimeters.

“We don’t think the events of today should be thought of as anyone scoring a touchdown, but rather, moving the ball from one’s own 20-yard line to the opponents’ 40,” summarized the financial analysts at New Street Research in a note to investors Monday.

2. It’s pretty boring

Biden’s spectrum plan focuses heavily on ensuring federal coordination around spectrum usage. Indeed, the 26-page plan from the NTIA uses the term “collaborate” almost 40 times.

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