Senators warming to spectrum deal in GOP megabill

Key Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee say there’s been headway in recent weeks on reaching an agreement to auction off wireless spectrum, expressing renewed hopes for attaching a telecommunications deal to the party’s massive bill to enact swaths of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda. “There’s progress, we’re almost there,” said Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS). “We’re at a place where almost everyone is comfortable.” Reauthorizing the lapsed spectrum auction authority of the Federal Communications Commission and facilitating the direct the sale of airwaves to the private sector could net tens of billions of dollars in revenue—an attractive offset for the party-line legislative package. The plan has run into obstacles, however, with allies of the Pentagon worrying about protecting the military’s vast store of spectrum, which the Pentagon uses for technology like radar.