No Hill Consensus on Reconsidering Sept. 30 FCC Spectrum Authority Renewal Bid

Congressional telecom policy leaders said in interviews last week there still isn’t consensus for passing legislation from Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., to temporarily restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through Sept. 30 (S-650), despite recent indications from House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., that she was reconsidering her earlier opposition to the proposal (see 2304210069). The FCC’s remit lapsed March 9 after Rounds objected to approving a House-passed bill to reauthorize it through May 19 (HR-1108) by unanimous consent and chamber leaders refused his counterbid to swiftly advance S-650 (see 2303090074).

Lawmakers continue to emphasize their commitment to bringing back the expired mandate, but other factors outweigh recent pressure from all four FCC commissioners (see 2304190069) and other communications stakeholders for a temporary renewal. Negotiations on a broader spectrum legislative package that a short-term mandate extension was supposed to facilitate are dragging on longer than leaders initially expected, so the May 19 deadline is no longer realistic, lobbyists said. Renewing the authorization through Sept. 30 would unnecessarily prolong legislative talks because DOD estimates it will finish its study of the effect commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band would have on its systems in July, lobbyists said.

Rodgers delivered mixed signals Thursday about her appetite for a longer temporary renewal than the May 19 date the House approved in HR-1108. “I talked to senators on the floor today” about the need for quick action to restore the mandate, she told us. “It’s urgent that we act” as soon as possible “and every day that we delay” the authority’s return “it benefits China.” But Rodgers still isn’t on board with a renewal that goes through Sept. 30 as Rounds proposes and emphasized the onus is on the Senate to make the next legislative move. The House “already passed” its preferred course of action in HR-1108 and there’s no evidence now that S-650 “has enough support” to clear the Senate, she said.

Rounds told us he’s aware of Rodgers’ interest in revisiting a temporary renewal “and we’ve reached out to her office, but as of” Wednesday “I’ve not heard back. We are hopeful that they’d be interested” in a Sept. 30 deadline “and if they have an interest” in that kind of “clean reauthorization” that goes through the end of FY 2023 “I have no objection to that. What I would object to is anything shorter than that or anything that would include the sale of” any portion of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band or any other “spectrum which is currently used by the Pentagon for our national defense needs.” He hopes “once people see how serious this is, they’ll reconsider their position about trying to sell that at the cost to our national defense.”

“We’re all still talking” through how to handle restoring the FCC’s authority in relation to broader spectrum legislative talks, said Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. “Everyone wants the U.S. to be a leader on 5G and 6G policy,” so “dialoguing” on “how to keep moving on important issues” in spectrum policy is a more important factor in the legislative deliberations than the amount of time that’s passed since the mandate’s expiration.

“If there’s another short-term” renewal, “I don’t know if that will fix things or not," said Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M. “A week or so ago, I was skeptical” about revisiting Rounds’ proposal given congressional leaders’ past opposition to S-650, but “I’m open to having those conversations. It’s important that this gets done and it shouldn’t take until September” to reach a deal. “It doesn’t appear that everyone is speaking from the same fact sheet” on spectrum policy, so “we need to get everyone on the same page and get something done,” he said.

“Right now, we just need to get the authority back, so as time goes by people are becoming more accepting of other proposals than the one they might have been wedded to before,” said Senate Communications ranking member John Thune, R-S.D. “I’ve talked with some of the folks on the House side, and they’re anxious to get this dealt with too.”

“We’ve got to get something done,” but “I haven’t talked to [Rodgers] specifically on” reexamining S-650’s Sept. 30 deadline, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “We have no spectrum authority right now” and “we can’t be in a position” where it remains lapsed for months on end.

“We haven’t talked recently” about the game plan for HR-1108 or revisiting S-650, but “I continue to think it’s ridiculous the spectrum authority lapsed,” said House Communications ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif. “We’ve got to get it back as soon as we can, but the fact is the Senate” is responsible for the current situation. “I think we need to have more conversation” with DOD officials to make it clear the mandate’s expiration “really is a national security issue for them too,” she said: “We should be using this time for talking with them.”

T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert again urged Congress to restore the mandate during a Thursday analyst call on the carrier's Q1 earnings (see 2304280049). “It’s very important that we get back on track with this,” he said. “I know the FCC feels that way. I presume my competitors feel that way.” T-Mobile has been unable to obtain the spectrum it won in the FCC's 2.5 GHz auction since the authority lapsed. The carrier argued last week the FCC still has statutory authority to award the licenses (see 2304260058).

CTIA, meanwhile, sent a letter to President Joe Biden last week describing the wireless industry's urgent need for more full-power licensed spectrum and ran ads in major newspapers flagging the issue. “White House leadership is more important than ever in driving a spectrum strategy that both expands commercial wireless opportunities and advances the federal government mission,” CTIA President Meredith Baker wrote Biden. “Today, we are at a crossroad," in part because "Congress has allowed" the FCC's authority to expire.

"There is no more greenfield spectrum" in the U.S. and "we lag other nations in making the most highly desirable mid-band frequencies (3-8.5 GHz) available for licensed, full power, commercial 5G use," Baker said. Although processes are underway at DOD and the Commerce Department “to identify and make more spectrum available for 5G commercial use, neither of these efforts appear likely to make the necessary amount of spectrum available for commercial use or do so in the timeframes necessary to maintain our Nation’s lead in this critically important sector."