Sens Wicker, Rubio, Ayotte, Gardner, Johnson Introduce Wireless Innovation Act

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS), joined fellow members of the Senate Commerce Committee, Sens Marco Rubio (R-FL), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Ron Johnson (R-WI) to introduce the “Wireless Innovation Act of 2015,” a bill to reallocate spectrum used by the federal government for commercial wireless services, ensure greater transparency and accountability of the federal government’s spectrum use, and promote wireless innovation and deployment. The Wireless Innovation Act of 2015 would:

• Require NTIA to identify and reallocate 200 MHz of spectrum below 5 GHz and currently allocated primarily to the federal government for commercial mobile use (140 MHz for licensed use; 40 MHz for shared; 20 MHz for unlicensed use)
• Establish an auction pipeline to ensure the 200 MHz of spectrum identified by NTIA is reallocated in a clear, predictable manner
• Allocate portions of the auction proceeds be made available to federal entities for conducting research and development and other engineering activities, and more.