Cantwell Opposed to Auctioning Military Spectrum

WASHINGTON, May 6, 2025 – The lead Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee is urging against auctioning military spectrum as part of an upcoming budget reconciliation bill.

“This would be a grave error, placing short-term corporate gain ahead of our nation’s long-term security,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., wrote Tuesday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “As we face mounting challenges around the world, particularly from China, I urge you to guard the critical spectrum resources currently assigned to the Department of Defense.”

Republicans are aiming to restore the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to auction off airwaves as part of the bill, with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the chair of the Commerce Committee, and the major mobile providers pushing for a pipeline that would identify a minimum quantity of spectrum or specific bands to be auctioned.

The prospect has been opposed by the Defense Department and allied lawmakers who have warned that vacating bands eyed by the 5G industry would jeopardize national security. The DoD reportedly floated a compromise recently that would see the military hold on to the lower 3 GigaHertz band, which has long been coveted by the mobile carriers, but vacate other spectrum for auction.

Cantwell was in favor of retaining the lower 3 GHz band, but took issue with auctions in some of the bands where the military proposed them. They include the Citizens Broadband Radio Service, where Navy radars coexist with lower power commercial users, and the 7/8 GHz band, where the military operates satellites and classified systems, according to the proposal reportedly circulated by the DoD.

With respect to CBRS, Cantwell said moving Navy systems elsewhere would “do more than disrupt critical naval operations and homeland defense.”

“Transferring control of this band would also undermine an innovative ecosystem of commercial wireless technology that will be extremely valuable for robotic manufacturing, precision agriculture, ubiquitous connectivity in large indoor spaces, and private wireless networks supporting the industrial uses and improved data connectivity,” she wrote.

The Defense plan also called for auctioning 100 megahertz of the 150 megahertz CBRS band, similar to an AT&T proposal to auction the band last year. Current users, including rural broadband providers and the cable industry, are opposed to the idea. They fear either having to vacate the band or increased congestion and interference if carriers were given access.

More airwaves for the mobile companies is also bad for cable generally, which competes for home broadband customers with 5G fixed wireless. The 5G industry has contended CBRS is underused and tends to oppose sharing regimes, favoring the full-power, exclusive use conducive to mobile coverage.

Cantwell also urged against an auction in the 7/8 GHz band, where the Defense plan suggested a 125 megahertz auction. 

“Now is most definitely not the time to undercut DoD’s use of critical spectrum for satellite communications,” she wrote.

The DoD declined to comment. The Senate Commerce Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The House Commerce Committee is set to markup its part of the reconciliation package, which will likely include the spectrum language, next week.