NTIA on Track to Finish Spectrum Study by December
The agency expects the FCC to propose auction rules ‘pretty quickly’ after that
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2026 – The Commerce Department is planning to finish a study on clearing up to 275 megahertz of government spectrum by December, and expects proposed auction rules to follow soon after.
The study concerns the 7.125-7.4 GigaHertz (GHz) band, currently used for defense purposes. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has been studying the band, along with three other government bands, under a Congressional mandate to find additional airwaves for the private sector.
“We are looking to finalize the studies there in the report by this December,” said Derek Khlopin, a top spectrum official at NTIA. “We anticipate the FCC will be proposing rules to auction that pretty quickly.”
He spoke during an Oct. 6 event hosted by RCR Tech.
The agency had started the lower 7 GHz study process under the Biden administration. The White House said in December 2025 it wanted NTIA to ultimately identify the band for 6G use by the end of 2026.
Khlopin said that “shortly” after the 7 GHz study, NTIA would likely complete its study of the 1675-1695 MHz band, but said he didn’t have a specific date.
The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote this month on a proposal to auction that band for mobile or direct-to-device use. NTIA has finished studying 5 megahertz, and is working on the rest. The band is used by the government to transmit meteorological data.
In an Oct. 5 Light Reading op-ed, industry analyst and spectrum sharing proponent Dean Bubley said NTIA should consider making some of the lower 7 GHz band available for unlicensed Wi-Fi use. He said the 7.125-7.25 GHz portion would be ideal for that, given it’s adjacent to current Wi-Fi spectrum.
Khlopin said that there had been “some good advances” in spectrum sharing technology, but that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that mandated the studies “put its thumb back on the scale more to try to relocate federal systems as much as possible, to make that spectrum as clear as possible.”
He said that likely wouldn’t be possible for some government systems, and that they could be shared via geographic exclusion zones or other methods.
NTIA has already told the FCC that it supported identifying 7.125-7.4 GHz for mobile use at the World Radiocommunications Conference in 2027.
Industry stakeholders still have yet to reach an agreement on what the U.S. position should be on the band. The wireless carriers, eager for more airwaves, support NTIA’s view, while the cable industry and other sharing proponents have said they want the U.S. delegation to hold off on putting forward a position.
A group of automakers and tech companies like Apple reiterated in a Tuesday filing with the FCC that the U.S. shouldn’t push for mobile in lower 7 GHz. The WRC agenda item contemplates additional spectrum, which is used for national security systems in the U.S., plus car safety systems, key fobs, and item-tracking tags, that the companies said should be protected.
The FCC is looking to have positions finalized by November, when regulators from North and South America will next meet to hammer out agreements ahead of WRC.
