NTIA Identifies 5 Megahertz of NOAA Spectrum for Auction
The NTIA head also urged the FCC to protect Wi-Fi.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2025 – The National Telecommunication and Information Administration has identified 5 megahertz of spectrum to auction, NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth said Wednesday at the agency’s annual spectrum policy symposium in Washington
The spectrum will come from a band used by weather satellites.
In its sweeping July budget legislation, Congress directed NTIA to find 500 megahertz of federal spectrum to be auctioned for licensed, commercial use, part of a larger 800 megahertz spectrum pipeline.
The first 5 megahertz of that will come from the 1,675-1,695 MHz band, Roth said, but didn’t specify the exact frequencies. She said the agency will study the 15 megahertz “immediately adjacent to” those being opened up to the private sector.
The band is currently used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to broadcast meteorological data from its satellites and weather balloons.
NOAA and NTIA had told the Federal Communications Commission in both the Biden and second Trump administrations that it could potentially be feasible to share 1,675-1,680 MHz with commercial wireless users.
Some scientists expressed concerns that crucial weather forecasts could be disrupted. NOAA's satellite division did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 5 megahertz “reallocation will result in a win-win for incumbent user NOAA and the American public,” Roth said. She said she would be sending a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr notifying the agency of NTIA's finding.
Roth said the agency would be studying four other bands to identify the remaining 495 megahertz: 7.125-7.4 GHz, 1680-1695 MHz, 2,700-2,900 MHz, and 4,400-4,940 MHz.
“Combined with their sweet-spot propagation characteristics, these bands offer the opportunity for larger channel bandwidths needed for 5G and future 6G networks, and have the potential to generate substantial auction revenues for the United States government while modernizing federal operations,” Roth said.
Those largely do not overlap with the Biden-era effort to study federal spectrum for potential repurposing, except for 7.125-7.4 GHz.
Roth said the agency was “well on our way to identifying spectrum in the 7 GHz band, having already secured funding from the spectrum relocation fund.”
Roth to FCC: protect Wi-Fi
She also urged the FCC to continue fostering Wi-Fi. Some proponents were concerned the agency would consider selling off unlicensed spectrum allocated for the technology in an effort to meet Congressional goals.
“While licensed spectrum is critical, the majority of mobile traffic is actually offloaded to Wi-Fi,” Roth said. “We encourage the FCC to consider opportunities to grow these technologies and other innovative forms of spectrum sharing.”
She said the U.S. would push back “on Chinese attempts to redefine the 6 GHz band,” widely used for Wi-Fi, at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2027. China has allocated the band for licensed 5G and 6G use.
Cruz opposed to defense bill
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also spoke. He heads the Senate Commerce Committee, where Roth led GOP telecom policy efforts before taking over NTIA.
He blasted the Senate’s draft of a must-pass defense bill, which includes a provision giving top military officials veto power over any modifications to the lower 3 GHz band and 7/8 GHz band.
“Practically speaking, this means NTIA would not even be able to move other federal operators to these bands – which it will have to do to clear the spectrum pipeline – unless first receiving approval from the sovereigns at the Joint Chiefs,” he said.
The bands, key military spectrum eyed by the wireless industry, had been carved out of the FCC’s auction authority in the budget bill, a trade off Cruz made with defense hawks to secure a larger pipeline for the industry.
“In negotiations over the spectrum pipeline, we never agreed to give DoD veto power over spectrum auctions, or to sideline NTIA as the federal spectrum management authority, nor would we,” he said.
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