FCC's Carr Wants Spectrum Pipeline with Auction Authority
The Defense Department has opposed the idea.
Jake Neenan
WASHINGTON, March 14, 2025 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr told lawmakers he wants them to set out a “new pipeline of mid-band spectrum” when they – eventually – restore his agency’s ability to auction off airwaves.
“Passing legislation that establishes a new pipeline of mid-band spectrum is vital to our economy and national security,” Carr wrote in a letter he also posted on X.
“If Congress accomplishes this goal, the FCC will implement Congress’s decision. Specifically, the FCC will make any and all of the spectrum allocation and license changes necessary to comply with the law passed by Congress.”
Carr addressed the letter to leaders of the House and Senate commerce committees, which handle telecom issues. Republican leadership is angling to include a measure restoring the FCC’s spectrum auction authority, which lapsed in March 2023, as part of a budget reconciliation bill this year. It’s an open question whether that will come with a mandate to sell off a certain quantity of airwaves.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and the wireless carriers have pushed for something along those lines, with Cruz calling a pipeline target of zero “objectively unreasonable.” The 5G industry is eager to get access to more airwaves for its mobile networks and increasingly popular fixed broadband service.
Opponents include the Defense Department and allied lawmakers like Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., who want to avoid altering military radars that operate in the lower 3 GigaHertz band, which also happens to be mid-band spectrum ideal for 5G networks.
The cable industry and some consumer groups have also opposed the idea, favoring unlicensed spectrum or sharing arrangements – cable companies offload traffic from their mobile services with unlicensed Wi-Fi and compete with the carriers' fixed wireless offerings – that allow more users on a given band but make airwaves less suited for the full-power use carriers want.
The Senate Commerce Committee had been set to vote on a bill that would mandate the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to estimate the value of all government spectrum up to 33 GigaHertz (GHz) within the next year.
Cruz pulled it from consideration before the committee met Wednesday. The Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of how much any auction reauthorization legislation would raise for the government will be important, as GOP lawmakers are looking to use the revenue to offset tax cuts.
Longer studies of government airwaves eyed by the private sector – like the lower 3 and 7/8 GHz bands – began under the Biden administration, but the results aren’t due until October 2026.
