CTIA Wants Defense Bill Spectrum Language Cut

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2025 – CTIA, the major wireless carrier trade group, wants key spectrum cut from the defense policy bill recently passed by the Senate.

“We have serious concerns that a provision in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) will undermine the government’s ability to implement” Congress’s goal of auctioning off 500 megahertz of government spectrum, CTIA CEO Ajit Pai wrote in a letter to Congressional leadership Thursday.

Pai led the Federal Communications Commission, responsible for holding spectrum auctions and regulating private-sector spectrum use, during President Donald Trump’s first term, and served on Trump’s transition team ahead of his current presidency.