Sponsor
Mike Lee
Senator · R-UT
Senator · R-UT
The bill increases transparency and economic evidence to reallocate federal spectrum for higher-value commercial use, but creates pressure that could harm agency mission readiness and national security if market valuations override operational requirements.
Small businesses, wireless industry players, and consumers gain stronger evidence to reallocate underused federal spectrum to higher-value commercial wireless uses because NTIA will perform regular, phased market valuations (every three years across bands) and incorporate dynamic scoring to capture broader economic impacts.
Taxpayers, Congress, and OMB gain increased fiscal transparency because federal agencies must include NTIA's estimated market value of their assigned spectrum in OMB budget submissions, clarifying budget tradeoffs related to spectrum use.
Small businesses, industry stakeholders, and policymakers get clearer, more actionable data because NTIA must publicly disclose its valuation methodology and findings (excluding classified/proprietary data), improving the quality of spectrum policy and allocation debates.
Federal agencies and mission-critical operations (including national security and public-safety users) may face political pressure to justify retaining or relinquishing spectrum based on reported market valuations, risking degraded mission capabilities or compromised national security if operational needs are overridden by market incentives.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
NTIA must estimate and publish the dollar value of federal-held spectrum across 3 kHz–95 GHz on a phased, recurring schedule and agencies must include the estimate in budget and financial reports.
Official title: Require the National Telecommunications Information Administration to estimate the value of electromagnetic spectrum assigned or otherwise allocated to Federal entities.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Mike Lee · Last progress February 27, 2025
Requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), working with the FCC and OMB, to produce regular monetary estimates of the value of electromagnetic spectrum assigned to each federal entity across 3 kHz–95 GHz. Estimates are phased by frequency bands (3 kHz–33 GHz within 1 year, 33–66 GHz within 2 years, 66–95 GHz within 3 years) and updated every three years; NTIA must publicly disclose methods and findings except classified or proprietary data. Federal entities must include NTIA’s most recent spectrum-value estimate in budget submissions to OMB and in annual financial statements.