FCC to Vote on AWS Auction, Inquiry into Upper C-Band
The agency's first meeting with Chairman Brendan Carr at the helm is set for Feb. 27.
Jake Neenan
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2025 – At the agency’s first meeting with Brendan Carr as chairman, the Federal Communications Commission plans to vote on proposing rules for reauctioning AWS-3 spectrum, plus an inquiry into opening up more 5G spectrum.
AWS-3 includes mid-band spectrum used by the 5G carriers. Its reauction was mandated by Congress in an effort to fully fund the agency’s so-called Rip and Replace program, which reimburses smaller providers for swapping aging gear from blacklisted Chinese providers out of their networks.
It’s the only spectrum auction permitted by law at this point, as the FCC’s authority to sell off spectrum as it sees fit lapsed in March 2023.
Carr wrote in a Wednesday blog post that the auction would be finished by its statutory deadline of June 23, 2026.
“This meeting shows that the agency will be laser focused on accelerating efforts that can get more spectrum into the marketplace,” he wrote. “This auction will be a win-win.” The commission meeting is scheduled for Feb. 27.
Proposed rules for the AWS reauction had been circulated under outgoing Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, after the law greenlighting the auction was passed. They were pulled briefly, along with all other circulating items, after Carr took the helm, but weren’t considered controversial. Dish had bought the licenses now set to be sold off again, but handed them back after a legal dispute over its relationship to smaller participants that received bidding credits Dish wasn’t eligible for.
“But wait, there’s more,” Carr wrote. “This month, we will vote on a notice of inquiry that asks whether the Commission should open up additional portions of the C-Band (3.98-4.2 GHz) for more intensive use. We want to hear your views.”
The 5G carriers, which also use C-Band spectrum for their mobile networks, were pleased.
“We applaud Chairman Carr for his swift action in exploring how best to make the Upper C-Band available for 5G wireless commercial use,” CTIA CEO Meredith Attwell Baker said in a statement. “Making Upper C-Band available for 5G services is crucial to strengthening America’s wireless networks, driving innovation, creating jobs, and securing our economic competitiveness.”
The initial C-Band auction, a reallocation of satellite spectrum, brought in more than $81 billion from wireless carriers in 2021. T-Mobile, which spent the least of the big three, has since largely eschewed the spectrum for other mid-band licenses in the 2.5 GHz band.
Blair Levin, New Street Research policy advisor and former FGCC chief of staff, flagged in an investor note that satellite companies SES and Intelsat said they could monetize an additional 100 megahertz of C-Band spectrum to help finance a merger. That merger is currently before the FCC.
He noted the Congressional Budget Office could take into account a potential upper C-Band auction when evaluating a GOP budget reconciliation bill this year. Republicans are currently hoping to restore the FCC’s auction authority as part of that effort and use the revenue to pay for tax cuts.
Also on the agency’s agenda: an order aimed at reducing opt outs from emergency alerts, rules expanding scam call blocking, and a proposal that would take comment on making sure “TV viewers aren’t inundated by exceedingly loud commercials.”
