Spectrum

Industry and Tribes at Odds on Tribal Priority Window

The FCC took comment on boosting Tribal access to spectrum ahead of an upcoming auction.

Jake Neenan

Apr 2, 2025 — 2 min read

Photo of Mariel Triggs, chief executive of MuralNet, testing broadband internet equipment in Fort Washakie on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming by Patrick Lawson from Northwest Public Broadcasting

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2025 – The wireless industry and Tribal governments are at odds over whether Tribes should be given a chance to apply for free spectrum licenses in an upcoming Federal Communications Commission auction.

The agency is set to sell off 200 licenses in the AWS-3 band sometime before June 2026, a move authorized by Congress to help pay for a reimbursement program for smaller providers swapping gear from blacklisted Chinese providers out of their networks.

In February the FCC asked for input on whether to include a Tribal priority window, in which tribes and Tribal ISPs could apply for the rights to deploy airwaves. Tribal lands are usually less economical to serve than denser areas and tend to lag behind the rest of the country in connectivity.

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Spectrum FCC Navajo Nation CTIA National Congress of American Indians Public Knowledge OTI ILSR Ajit Pai