New Federal Communications Fee Chair Brendan Carr is kicking off his tenure with a concentrate on spectrum, robocalls and emergency alerts.
In a weblog publish revealed Wednesday, Carr stated that the FCC “shall be laser centered on accelerating efforts that may get extra spectrum into {the marketplace}.”
That features transferring ahead with a re-auction of the FCC’s current stock of AWS-3 licenses—a transfer that the FCC is required to finish by June 23, 2026, underneath the Nationwide Protection Authorization Act that was handed by Congress final yr. That re-auction will assist additional fund the “rip and exchange” program focusing on the removing of banned Chinese language gear from telecom networks. Former Chair Jessica Rosenworcel had proposed related plans in January earlier than she resigned, as a part of the transition to the incoming Trump administration.
Carr stated that there are a “giant quantity” of these licenses, that are within the 1.695-1.710 GHz, 1.755-1.780 GHz and a couple of.155-2.180 GHz bands.
“This public sale shall be a win-win,” he wrote within the posted weblog. “It brings new spectrum into play for industrial use. And the proceeds from this public sale may also cowl the prices of the nationwide safety initiative referred to as ‘rip and exchange’—an effort that’s eradicating untrustworthy know-how, like Huawei and ZTE gear, from networks.”
Carr additionally stated that the FCC will vote on a discover of inquiry on opening up extra C-Band spectrum, within the higher C-Band vary between 3.98-4.2 GHz, for “extra intensive use,” and is on the lookout for enter on doing so. Satellite tv for pc companies have been transitioned out of the remainder of the C-Band into the higher 200 megahertz in an effort to permit the remainder of the band to be auctioned for terrestrial cellular community use.
CTIA, which has been pushing onerous for extra unique and full-power entry to midband spectrum, instantly applauded that proposal for the higher C-Band vary, releasing a press release from outgoing President and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker that stated partially: “America faces a urgent want for extra licensed spectrum to fulfill skyrocketing client demand. Making Higher C-band out there for 5G companies is essential to strengthening America’s wi-fi networks, driving innovation, creating jobs, and securing our financial competitiveness. We stay up for working with the Chairman, the FCC, and different stakeholders on placing this spectrum to make use of in a fashion that promotes aviation security and achieves our shared objective of making certain the U.S. leads the world in wi-fi.”
Moreover, Carr stated that the FCC will vote this month on extra guidelines to increase the attain of Do-Not-Originate lists and strengthen call-blocking capabilities, give emergency managers extra flexibility on cellular emergency alerts, and a discover of proposed rulemaking centered on whether or not the company can take extra motion to fight exceedingly loud tv commercials.
A invoice was lately launched within the U.S. Home of Representatives that might renew the FCC’s public sale authority, which lapsed in early 2023 (the AWS-3 licenses can be re-auctioned underneath authority supplied via the protection spending laws). Based on a press launch from Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA-12), who launched the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2025—which displays a Senate model launched by Senators John Thune (R-South Dakota) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas)—the proposed invoice requires NTIA to establish a minimum of 2,500 megahertz of midband spectrum for reallocation or sharing within the subsequent 5 years, with half required within the subsequent two years, and likewise requires the FCC to public sale a minimum of 1,250 megahertz for full-power industrial wi-fi companies inside six years, amongst different stipulations.
