Hill, The

Lawmakers and former federal officials said that universal broadband access is essential to boosting the American economy during and after the coronavirus pandemic. “The pandemic has conclusively proven that everyone needs internet connection to have a fair shot at success,” said Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. She added that there is an enormous amount of lost economic opportunity if the United States doesn’t figure out how to expand internet connectivity to all Americans.

On Dec. 8, the Federal Communications Commission will begin selling off another swath of wireless spectrum to accelerate the country’s march toward the full promise of 5G. In an auction projected to yield as much as $50 billion to the U.S. Government, 57 companies have qualified for the opportunity to bid on 5,684 spectrum licenses to serve 406 partial economic areas — or markets — throughout the US. There’s gold in those 5G airwaves. The path to profit and preeminence depends almost entirely on how much spectrum the companies can garner from the US government.