Supporters Urge Capitol Hill to Protect Unlicensed, Shared Spectrum
They worry the FCC would consider repurposing the airwaves to meet ambitious auction goals.
WASHINGTON, June 20, 2025 – Supporters of unlicensed and shared spectrum services keep pushing Capitol Hill lawmakers to protect those airwaves if they restore the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to auction wireless licenses.
Consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge urged email recipients Friday to contact their senators and representatives and tell them to protect the 6 GigaHertz band from being auctioned as part of the bill. The unlicensed band is largely used for Wi-Fi and fixed broadband.
And earlier this week, nearly two dozen wireless ISPs in Texas urged Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, both Republicans from the state, to “consider the importance” of the shared Citizens Broadband Radio Service band as they crafted the bill.
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The Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which the chamber has yet to pass, would prevent the FCC from selling off certain military airwaves to wireless carriers and mandate at least 800 megahertz be auctioned. A House version of the bill would have protected fewer military bands and set a lower pipeline goal, but extended protection to the unlicensed 6 GHz band, largely used for Wi-Fi.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the Senate bill’s spectrum provisions would raise $88 billion to help pay for tax cuts.
“Without these protections, the FCC could be forced to sell off as much as half of the currently unlicensed spectrum in the 6 GHz band – and companies like AT&T are eagerly waiting to buy it up,” Public Knowledge wrote in an email blast.
The group included a form for users to send their representatives or senators a message urging protections for the 6 GHz band.
The major wireless carriers have been pushing hard for a pipeline in the reconciliation bill, which they say they need to meet consumer demand in the future.
The carriers have appeared more interested in accessing CBRS than Wi-Fi spectrum recently, but New America’s Michael Calabrese has said the high pipeline total could pressure the FCC to look at selling off some 6 GHz spectrum.
“It's a really bad sign that they would explicitly drop the exclusion for 6 GHz,” he said Wednesday on ILSR’s Community Broadband Bits podcast. “It really paints a target on Wi-Fi – or at least a big portion of the upper six gigahertz band – as something that could be auctioned.”
NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, which represents the cable industry, published a blog post on June 10 urging lawmakers to ensure 6 GHz and CBRS were off limits. Cable companies use Wi-Fi to offload traffic for their mobile service, and own some priority CBRS licenses. Wireline Broadband ISPs like Comcast and Charter, both NCTA members, also compete with the 5G providers’ fixed broadband services.
WISPA, which represents small and wireless ISPs and coordinated the letter to Cruz and Cornyn, has already said it harbors “strong concerns” about a lack of protection for CBRS. The group’s members use the shared band to provide broadband.
Cruz, head of the Senate committee responsible for the spectrum language, has said he’s not budging on the text in response to fellow Republicans who wanted stronger military protections. He said last week the Senate will likely pass its version of the budget bill by July 4. The Senate calendar shows the chamber’s last session before July 4 is Friday, June 27.
WISPA letter
WISPA also coordinated a letter from 23 of its members Wednesday attempting to impress upon Cruz and Cornyn the value of CBRS.
“Without CBRS, many of your constituents would lose access to the internet and the benefits that come with it. CBRS allows us to reach rural and underserved parts of the state affordably and quickly – schools and hospitals, farms, manufacturing facilities, and homes and businesses that would otherwise receive inferior service or none at all,” they wrote.
The band uses a three-tiered sharing system, with Navy radars getting priority over those who paid for licenses, and those licensees getting priority over general access users who can use the spectrum for free.
Last year, AT&T proposed moving the band’s users and auctioning the spectrum off – CBRS sits in the 3.5 GHz band and has favorable characteristics for 5G, but the wireless carriers prefer the higher power, exclusive use spectrum they typically use. Earlier this year, the Defense Department endorsed selling some of the band as a compromise plan to get the carriers more but shield its own.
“CBRS is a proven and innovative method to increase spectrum availability and connect communities that have been left behind,” the WISPs wrote. “Any proposal that curtails or eliminates the use of CBRS will have far-reaching negative consequences for innovation and deployment for your constituents across Texas.”
Through the reconciliation process, Republicans can pass their bill without Democratic support in either chamber, but Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the top Democrat on Cruz’s committee, has been publicly opposing the spectrum language. Her most forceful criticism has been that airplane altimeters could be subject to interference after a mandated auction in the upper C-band, something Cruz denies, but she has also supported protecting CBRS and 6 GHz.
