ICYMI: The Beltway’s Gordian Knot…Spectrum

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During our June webinar, our expert panelists – Umair Javed, senior vice president and general counsel, CTIA; Peter Rysavy, president and founder, Rysavy Research; Christopher Yoo, John H. Chestnut Professor of Law, Communication, and Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania – discussed the most recent developments involving spectrum and the U.S. wireless industry’s efforts to establish a spectrum pipeline.

Key Takeaways

  • The panelists agreed that the spectrum provisions in the “Big Beautiful Bill” are a significant accomplishment. They restore the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) auction authority for 10 years, protect spectrum bands of importance to the Department of Defense and the Intel community, and establish a clear roadmap for the FCC and National Telecommunications and Information Administration to identify and auction up to 800 MHz of spectrum for full power, commercial use.
  • The panelists also highlighted a recent National Economic Research Associates study estimating that developing a U.S. spectrum pipeline could generate between $120 billion and $200 billion in revenue.
  • Yoo underscored the growing need for additional spectrum, noting that with the advent of 6G expected by 2030, the United States may require another 800 MHz to meet demand.
  • Rysavy emphasized that spectrum is ultimately shared and explained the limitations of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service-sharing model, arguing against using this in any other bands and instead suggesting Active Radio Access Network as a more effective sharing model.
  • Javed applauded the work by Senators Cruz and Thune to develop the pipeline bill, pointing to the continuing explosion of demand for both fixed and mobile wireless. He suggested that the rise of AI will drive another wave of capacity demand.
  • Javed also noted that discussions with the Federal Aviation Administration about Upper C-Band are moving along and are proving productive.
  • In a new “rapid fire” round of the discussion, the speakers refuted claims by cable and WiFi operators that more spectrum was needed to avoid WiFi spectrum exhaust and explained why the suggestion to tie spectrum to population is a “ridiculous” idea and reflects a total ignorance of how spectrum is deployed and used.

You can watch or listen to the entire conversation on our YouTube channel.