Chairman Pai Remarks on the Future of American Spectrum Policy

Interested parties will likely use the change in Administrations as an opportunity to re-litigate settled disputes like the 5.9 GHz and 6 GHz rules, the L-band, and perhaps even the C-band. If we are to preserve the value this Federal Communications Commission delivered to American consumers, the agency’s new leadership will have to be willing to withstand the pressure from the voices who are always going to say, “No.” Also in the near-term, the next Administration needs to install strong leadership at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and empower NTIA to be the Executive Branch’s one voice on spectrum policy. We must bring an end to the practice of each agency having its own spectrum policy.

But longer term, we need to have a conversation about whether our current bifurcated framework for spectrum management makes sense. Currently, our division of responsibility for managing spectrum has NTIA governing federal spectrum and the FCC governing non-federal commercial spectrum. Globally, this makes us an outlier. Should we think about having unified regulatory authority over spectrum entrusted to the FCC to minimize the need for coordination? If the FCC ultimately holds the pen on all spectrum matters, perhaps agencies will stop throwing up roadblocks by default and will recognize that the best way to preserve their interests is to persuade the Commission with sound engineering and facts.