NTIA Clears Study Plans for 4.4 GHz Band
After a 60-day Congressional review period, 12 agencies that use the band will get funding to study it for potential repurposing.
WASHINGTON, June 11, 2026 – The Commerce Department has nearly secured funding to study whether more than 400 megahertz of federal spectrum can be opened up for commercial mobile use.
The agency’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration said in a Wednesday blog post it had cleared 12 agencies’ study plans and cost estimates for the 4.4-4.94 GigaHertz (GHz) band.
Those were sent to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget Wednesday, NTIA said. OMB will then submit the plans to Congress, kicking off a 60-day review window after which the agencies will get their money to study whether the band could be repurposed.
“After the OMB Director signs off and submits the Congressional notification, 12 different federal agencies and departments will receive funding to study repurposing a large section of contiguous spectrum within this band,” the agency wrote.
Two of the largest users of the band are the Defense Department and Justice Department, NTIA Chief of Staff Brooke Donilon said last year.
NTIA has already submitted to OMB agencies’ plans for studying the 2.7 GHz band and 1.6 GHz band, and is further along in its analysis of the 7 GHz band, which began during the Biden administration. All are part of the agency’s effort to find 500 megahertz of federal spectrum that could be vacated or shared with mobile carriers.
Of that 500 megahertz total, 200 megahertz have to be identified by July 2027. NTIA has already identified 5 megahertz in the 1.6 GHz band, spectrum used by NOAA, and plans to tap the entire 20 megahertz in the band after more study.
The major wireless carriers are excited about the 4.4 Ghz study. It’s a large, contiguous swathe of airwaves that’s also being studied for global use.
An agenda item at the World Radiocommunication Conference next year will ask about designating the 4.4 GHz band for potential sharing or licensed mobile use.
Tricia Paoletta, NTIA’s top spectrum advisor, said during a March webinar that agencies’ analyses of the 4.4 Ghz band should begin in earnest in the summer or fall of this year.
She said getting agencies' study and spectrum relocation plans, like the ones submitted to OMB Wednesday, could be a difficult task. Government systems are often bespoke, making the process more difficult than buying upgraded or slightly different gear.
