On the Record with NTIA’s Senior Advisor for Spectrum

Earth with lights and satellites coming off of it.

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During our March edition of Little Nuggets of Tech and Telecom with Tricia Paoletta, senior advisor for Spectrum at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Paoletta shared her thoughts on U.S. spectrum policy priorities, mid-band spectrum reallocation, and the need for the U.S. to continue preparations for the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC).

Key Takeaways:

The 500 MHz mandate in the 2025 Big Beautiful Bill drives the NTIA mid-band focus.
Mid-band spectrum is the battleground band, particularly 7 GHz, 4 GHz, and roughly 2.7–2.9 GHz, all of which are high-value but heavily occupied.
All bands are complex, and every allocation involves federal incumbents, relocation costs, and technical tradeoffs with auctions only proceeding if bids exceed 110% of clearing costs.
Studies of the 7 GHz band are well underway with 4 GHz to commence. There does not seem to be a per se predilection to auction off spectrum in the 7 GHz band ahead of 4 GHz, but it may play out that way given the status of the work on 7 GHz is already underway.
Parallel work accelerates progress, as the NTIA runs multiple studies simultaneously, and even early incremental allocations of 5 to 20 MHz provide meaningful “down payments” on the Congressional mandate to find 500 MHz to auction for full power commercial use.
Regarding the Upper C band, inter-agency coordination is improving compared to the process involved with the Lower C band.
Global coordination is critical at the WRC, and the U.S. needs to align internationally to ensure harmonized spectrum for 5G and 6G.
As the host country, China will influence the agenda, both substantively and procedurally.

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