Gardner, Hassan File Airwaves Act Spectrum Bill That Eyes 5G, to Wide Sector Praise

spectrum for wireless industry purchase via a future FCC auction. The bill also would direct the FCC to allocate 10 percent of proceeds from future spectrum auctions toward funding wireless broadband access for unserved and underserved consumers. The bill "offers innovative ways to avoid a spectrum crunch, pave the way for 5G service, and provide critical resources to rural America to continue rural buildout in unserved and underserved areas," Gardner said. The bill got support from the communications sector, along with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael O'Rielly. Elements drew praise from a wide range of communications stakeholders, including Verizon, CTIA, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, New America's Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and WifiForward. The bill “shows a clear, bipartisan understanding by Congress that the nation needs real and achievable timelines to meet the continually increasing demands for spectrum from a growing number of American consumers and businesses,” said Verizon Senior Vice President-Federal Government Affairs Robert Fisher. “With new, next-gen wireless applications and services emerging daily, it also confirms that our nation's leaders recognize the importance of making a range of spectrum bands available for commercial mobile broadband.” CTIA believes the bill “provides a much needed long-term plan to unlock valuable licensed spectrum as demand for wireless data and content continues to skyrocket,” Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Kelly Cole said. “A predictable spectrum pipeline is vital to meet consumers' need for new and innovative services and sustain U.S. global leadership in a fast-approaching 5G world.” PK Senior Vice President Harold Feld lauded the bill's rural mobile broadband funding allocation provision, saying it “focuses spending directly on needed broadband infrastructure in a competitively neutral manner, without raising taxes or user fees.” OTI Wireless Future Program Director Michael Calabrese praised elements of the bill but noted there is “an immediate opportunity to share 500 megahertz of underutilized satellite spectrum above 3.7 GHz for more affordable rural and small town broadband that will be lost if the sole focus is raising one-time auction revenue that requires clearing satellite incumbents off the band and takes a decade to implement.”