Senate Must Improve on House Bill, Protect CBRS, 5.9GHz, 6GHz Bands, etc.
The following statement may be attributed to David Zumwalt, President & CEO, WISPA – The Association for Broadband Without Boundaries:
Washington, DC, May 22, 2025 – Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its reconciliation bill, which includes provisions that would restore the FCC’s authority to conduct spectrum auctions. Our wireless-driven economy demands more spectrum to grow, and auctioning spectrum can be a great tool for moving underused or fallow spectrum into commercial service.
WISPA is encouraged that the House-passed reconciliation bill excludes the 5.9 GHz and 6 GHz bands from its call to auction off 600 megahertz of spectrum to accord with the strictures of the budget process. These unlicensed bands are widely used by WISPA’s members to expand reliable broadband coverage to rural and hard-to-serve parts of the country, making the lives of millions of Americans better, safer and more prosperous.
WISPA also commends the House for making the 199A pass-through deduction permanent and increasing it to 23 percent. For the many WISPs that organize as pass-through entities, this action will help ensure that they are not hit with a job-killing tax increase next year.
That noted, WISPA harbors strong concerns on three fronts as the bill moves to the U.S. Senate.
First, spectrum auctions are typically designed to favor large players, covering large areas and raising millions of dollars for the exclusive right to serve customers in largely urban areas. In doing so, spectrum auctions cut out small and rural providers who operate on the front lines of the digital divide. Moreover, auctions can deplete the stock of shared and unlicensed spectrum necessary to keep our wireless-driven economy going.
Second, the House bill does not exclude the widely used and previously auctioned Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band from competitive bidding, leaving it vulnerable to sale and/or major disruption.
CBRS is a proven spectrum sharing model that has fostered innovation which has helped bridge the digital divide. More than 60% of WISPA members use CBRS to deliver high-quality broadband to hard-to-serve and previously unserved Americans, using state-of-the art technology from an ecosystem that has developed for CBRS. The band supports safe dynamic sharing with incumbent federal users, enabling spectrum efficiency without displacement. The diversity of the use cases is vast. It is in industrial IoT applications. Agri-tech. Private enterprise networks. Hospitals. Airports. Schools. Churches. The NFL. Urban Multi-Dwelling Units. Law enforcement agencies, public safety institutions and first responders. CBRS is widely deployed because it is cost-effective, agile, quick to roll out and powerful, and has enabled service to more than 400,000 end users who might not have access to other terrestrial broadband access alternatives. Leaving CBRS at risk of a re-auction would not only undermine the band’s benefits but could strand billions-of-dollars of private investment and undercut reliance on spectrum sharing models critical to unlocking the full potential of limited spectrum resources.
Third, the exclusions in the House bill only extend to the 600 megahertz of spectrum scored for the House’s reconciliation package. They do not stop the FCC from auctioning off portions, or all, of the excluded bands with the agency’s general auction authority. Not only would this waste significant private investment, as noted above, any resulting auction would likely favor large incumbents, sidelining small players in the process and, ultimately, in their rural marketplaces. Stated more plainly, small players and the communities that now enjoy those bands would not be better off as a result.
As the bill moves to the Senate, WISPA urges that legislative body to protect from auction the CBRS, 5.9 GHz and 6 GHz bands, and to consider the profound benefits of a balanced spectrum policy which enables a mix of unlicensed, shared and exclusive-use spectrum for commercial use spectrum – one which also promotes private investment, innovation and competition in service of all Americans. Our economy and way of life depend on it.