Rodgers Wants Spectrum Agreement ASAP, Before March 9 FCC Auction Authority Expires
House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said Wednesday she believes lawmakers need to “reach an agreement as soon as possible” on spectrum legislative items currently tied up with renewing the FCC’s auction authority. Congress extended the FCC’s auction authority through March 9 as part of the FY 2023 appropriations omnibus package, but leaders on the House and Senate Commerce committees hope they can agree on a broader spectrum bill, after a legislative deal they hoped to attach to the omnibus fell through in December (see 2212280044).
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The March 9 deadline “is right around the corner,” Rodgers said during a Punchbowl News event: “And no one wants to see the auction authority expire.” Lawmakers are “getting to work” on renewed negotiations, and it’s important “that we ensure that the FCC can be opening up new bands and ensuring that we continue to lead in the allocation of spectrum,” she said: Spectrum “is a national security issue” just as much as it is a competitiveness issue and “if we're going to lead we have to be smart in our spectrum allocation.”
It's “going to be very important” that Capitol Hill “restore the role of NTIA” as the federal government’s spectrum management authority as part of any broader package, Rodgers said. She cited “beating China” in 5G leadership as an important reason to move forward on legislation, noting China’s operation of a high-altitude balloon in the U.S. that officials believe was used for surveillance “has dominated the news” and shows that country has “very different values” from the U.S. “They want to win the future by dominating” on 5G, she said.
Rodgers later noted during a House Communications Subcommittee hearing on satellite-focused legislation (see 2302080073) that “we are working with our colleagues across Congress to” provide an additional $3.08 billion to cover a “shortfall” in funding for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program “as soon as possible.” The scuttled December spectrum deal would have used some proceeds from a proposed sale of frequencies on the 3.1-3.45 GHz band to fully fund the rip and replace reimbursements. The Competitive Carriers Association, one of several groups pushing for the additional money, hailed Rodgers’ comments.
“Things in Washington sometimes don't happen unless you have” a deadline like the March 9 authorization expiration, said CTIA President Meredith Baker during the Punchbowl event. “We find it very important not only to extend the FCC’s auction authority, which has never lapsed” over the past 30 years, “but also to attach certain bands to it to encourage those bands to be auctioned.” The pipeline renewal is “critical because the more spectrum we have, the more innovation we have,” she said: “We don't have any options in the pipeline” 10 years after the 2012 spectrum law, “so we really need to get to it” soon. “We're not sitting still while … Japan, South Korea but really importantly China” are “focused on being the leaders in 5G, and they're allocating of the three times more spectrum than what we have.”