A notice of inquiry about use of the upper C band for 5G may prove controversial given the implications for radio altimeters, industry experts said. The NOI proposes a study of 3.98-4.2 GHz spectrum, just above the spectrum sold in the record-breaking C-band auction, which ended in early 2021 (see 2102180041). FCC Chairman Brendan Carr initiated the NOI last week for a vote at the Feb. 27 open meeting. A radio altimeter is a device that measures the distance between an aircraft and the ground.
Supporters of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act told us they see the Senate Commerce Committee’s strong vote Wednesday to advance its revised version of the measure (S-315) as a positive early step. But they acknowledged the Capitol Hill dynamics that led congressional leaders to scuttle a December bid to pass an earlier version of the measure via a year-end package remains an obstacle. Senate Commerce advanced S-315 on a voice vote, with Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, asking the panel to record him as opposed (see 2502050052).
As of the end of 2024, the C-band relocation payment clearinghouse (RPC) has finished reviewing lump sum and non-lump sum claims and satellite operator claims, and it has moved to claims reconciliation, the RPC said in a docket 18-122 status report posted Friday. It said it reviewed $83.8 million worth of claims in Q4, and that reconciliation work will result in determinations of what adjustments might be needed to amounts reimbursed to satellite operators. Once reconciliation is done, the RPC will start work on the final accounting and audit, with the goal of finishing its C-band work by June.
The White House OMB rescinded its stayed memo that called for a freeze on most federal grants and loans, bowing to mounting criticism of the plan’s breadth even after it partially walked it back Tuesday (see 2501280051). The now-rescinded freeze would have paused NTIA’s disbursal of $42.5 billion from the BEAD program and other Commerce Department initiatives, commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick acknowledged during his Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other leaders acknowledged in recent interviews that long-standing DOD objections to repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band and other military-controlled frequencies remain an impediment to GOP hopes of using an upcoming budget reconciliation package to move on spectrum legislation (see 2501070069). Lawmakers and lobbyists said DOD concerns could prevent Congress from including anything beyond a simple restoration of the FCC’s lapsed auction authority in a reconciliation package, an outcome that would fall short of wireless industry wishes for a refilled spectrum pipeline.
House Commerce Committee leaders drew battle lines during and after a Thursday Communications Subcommittee hearing over GOP proposals to move spectrum legislation as part of an upcoming budget reconciliation package (see 2501070069). House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone of New Jersey and other Democrats strongly objected to using reconciliation as a spectrum vehicle because it would allocate future license sales revenue to fund tax cuts instead of telecom priorities. Lawmakers from both parties again cited long-standing DOD objections to repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band and other military-controlled frequencies as a continued flashpoint in spectrum legislative talks in this Congress (see 2501070069).
House Commerce Committee leaders are cautioning that the Communications Subcommittee’s planned Thursday spectrum policy hearing isn’t necessarily an indication that the panel will seek early action on an airwaves legislative package. Some lawmakers and lobbyists instead said the hearing is aimed at educating the subpanel’s crop of new members on the complicated dynamics at play in the spectrum legislative debate. New House Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky and other Republicans are eyeing using an upcoming budget reconciliation package to move on spectrum legislation (see 2501070069).
NCTA CEO Michael Powell and CTIA Executive Vice President Brad Gillen are among those set to testify Thursday during a House Communications Subcommittee hearing on spectrum legislative issues, the Commerce Committee said Tuesday. House Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky and other Republicans are eyeing using an upcoming budget reconciliation package to move on spectrum legislation (see 2501070069). Other witnesses on House Communications’ hearing docket: Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis and the Trump administration's former acting NTIA Administrator Diane Rinaldo, now Open RAN Policy Coalition executive director. The panel will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency may struggle to make the deep cuts in the federal workforce it seeks, experts said during a discussion at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs late Monday. Moreover, Trump would face legal challenges implementing Schedule F, which would strip federal employees of civil service protections and facilitate replacing them with Trump loyalists, they said (see 2407110054).
The Wireless Infrastructure Association urged Congress Thursday to “reintroduce and pass” the 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act backed by Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. It would restore the FCC’s lapsed auction authority and proposes requiring NTIA to identify at least 2,500 MHz of midband spectrum the federal government can reallocate within the next five years (see 2403110066). Congressional GOP leaders are eyeing using a coming budget reconciliation package to address spectrum issues, including reauthorizing the FCC’s mandate (see 2501070069). WIA also urged NTIA to “accelerate” the national spectrum strategy. “We need to move beyond studies and get to solutions that meet industry needs while respecting critical government functions,” it said. WIA urged lawmakers to refile the American Broadband Deployment Act permitting package that the House Commerce Committee approved in 2023 (see 2305240069). The measure, which groups together more than 20 GOP-led connectivity permitting bills, drew unanimous opposition from House Commerce Democrats, and local government groups continued lobbying against the measure last year (see 2409180052). “A consistent permitting framework set at a national level, but flexible enough to accommodate local needs and interests, is the key to sustained success for wireless infrastructure deployment,” WIA said. The group “values and respects the need for local permitting processes; the reforms WIA proposes all build upon that premise, but with safeguards built in where the level of review becomes unpredictable, untimely, disproportionate, or unworkably opaque.”