New Federal Communications Fee Chair Brendan Carr is kicking off his tenure with a deal with spectrum, robocalls and emergency alerts.
In a weblog submit revealed Wednesday, Carr mentioned that the FCC “shall be laser targeted on accelerating efforts that may get extra spectrum into {the marketplace}.”
That features transferring ahead with a re-auction of the FCC’s present stock of AWS-3 licenses—a transfer that the FCC is required to finish by June 23, 2026, underneath the Nationwide Protection Authorization Act that was handed by Congress final 12 months. That re-auction will assist additional fund the “rip and exchange” program concentrating on the elimination of banned Chinese language gear from telecom networks. Former Chair Jessica Rosenworcel had proposed related plans in January earlier than she resigned, as a part of the transition to the incoming Trump administration.
Carr mentioned that there are a “giant quantity” of these licenses, that are within the 1.695-1.710 GHz, 1.755-1.780 GHz and a couple of.155-2.180 GHz bands.
“This public sale shall be a win-win,” he wrote within the posted weblog. “It brings new spectrum into play for business use. And the proceeds from this public sale can even cowl the prices of the nationwide safety initiative often known as ‘rip and exchange’—an effort that’s eradicating untrustworthy expertise, like Huawei and ZTE gear, from networks.”
Carr additionally mentioned that the FCC will vote on a discover of inquiry on opening up further C-Band spectrum, within the higher C-Band vary between 3.98-4.2 GHz, for “extra intensive use,” and is searching for enter on doing so. Satellite tv for pc companies had been transitioned out of the remainder of the C-Band into the higher 200 megahertz as a way to permit the remainder of the band to be auctioned for terrestrial cell community use.
CTIA, which has been pushing arduous for extra unique and full-power entry to midband spectrum, instantly applauded that proposal for the higher C-Band vary, releasing an announcement from outgoing President and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker that mentioned partly: “America faces a urgent want for extra licensed spectrum to satisfy skyrocketing client demand. Making Higher C-band out there for 5G companies is essential to strengthening America’s wi-fi networks, driving innovation, creating jobs, and securing our financial competitiveness. We sit up for working with the Chairman, the FCC, and different stakeholders on placing this spectrum to make use of in a way that promotes aviation security and achieves our shared purpose of making certain the U.S. leads the world in wi-fi.”
Moreover, Carr mentioned that the FCC will vote this month on further guidelines to increase the attain of Do-Not-Originate lists and strengthen call-blocking capabilities, give emergency managers extra flexibility on cell emergency alerts, and a discover of proposed rulemaking targeted on whether or not the company can take extra motion to fight exceedingly loud tv commercials.
A invoice was not too long ago launched within the U.S. Home of Representatives that may renew the FCC’s public sale authority, which lapsed in early 2023 (the AWS-3 licenses can be re-auctioned underneath authority offered via the protection spending laws). In keeping with a press launch from Rep. Rick Allen (GA-12), who launched the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2025—which displays a Senate model launched by Senators John Thune (R-South Dakota) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas)—the proposed invoice requires NTIA to determine not less than 2,500 megahertz of midband spectrum for reallocation or sharing within the subsequent 5 years, with half required within the subsequent two years, and in addition requires the FCC to public sale not less than 1,250 megahertz for full-power business wi-fi companies inside six years, amongst different stipulations.
