Oct 24, 2019

House bill would mandate public auction of 5G airwaves

Margaret Harding McGill

Photo of an advanced black cellphone tower framed against a blue sky — 5G cellphone tower in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Photo: Hendrik Schmidt/picture alliance via Getty Images

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers dropped a bill Thursday directing the FCC to hold a public auction of coveted midband airwaves.

The big picture: The FCC is contemplating allowing a group of satellite companies to privately sell the airwaves to wireless companies for 5G service, amid opposition from cable companies and a now-bipartisan set of lawmakers.

Why it matters: The plan for the auction will affect how quickly 5G will be deployed and how much — if any — of the proceeds go to the government.

Details: The Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-BAND) Act is led by House Energy & Commerce communications subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui and Republican Reps. Bill Johnson and Greg Gianforte.

It would require the FCC to conduct a public auction and protect current users of the spectrum throughout the process, with auction proceeds going to the government.
The auction would have to make available between 200 and 300 megahertz of spectrum by 2022.

What’s next: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who intends to decide by this fall how to proceed, has said his priorities are speed, generating revenue for the government, making a significant amount of spectrum available for 5G, and ensuring that current users are protected.

The House Energy & Commerce communications subcommittee will hold a hearing Tuesday to discuss C-band issues.

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House bill would mandate public auction of 5G airwaves

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