Sponsors (2)
The bill creates a government test lab and promotes federal spectrum sharing to spur commercial use, improve coordination, and support emergency tracking, while requiring new federal spending and risking security, oversight, and uneven rollout if controls and private-sector cooperation are insufficient.
Commercial operators, tech workers, and utilities will have expanded access to Federal spectrum for sharing with non-Federal users, enabling new services and economic activity.
Federal spectrum users and agencies will gain a dedicated executive-branch test lab (ITS) to research RF propagation, sharing, and interference tolerance, improving spectrum efficiency and interagency coordination.
Local and state governments and first responders could benefit from focused development of emergency communications and tracking for confined or shielded environments, improving ability to locate and rescue trapped individuals.
Federal agencies and taxpayers could face increased federal spending and administrative costs to create and operate the ITS test center.
Critical Federal systems and federal spectrum users could face increased interference or coordination challenges if expanded sharing is not tightly managed, posing potential national security risks.
Taxpayers and state governments may see reduced transparency or weaker oversight of public–private transactions because broad authority to enter agreements and use various statutory authorities could limit reporting and checks without strong controls.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a statutory home for ITS as the primary federal RF test lab, authorizes partnership agreements, and launches an 18-month emergency-communications initiative for confined/shielded environments.
Establishes the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) as a formal federal test center and the primary executive-branch laboratory for radiofrequency (RF) research and spectrum sharing. It defines ITS functions, authorizes the ITS head to enter into cooperative agreements and similar arrangements under multiple federal statutes, and requires an ITS-led initiative to advance emergency communications and tracking technologies for confined or shielded environments with a report to Congress and public posting within 18 months.
Introduced February 21, 2025 by Buddy Carter · Last progress July 15, 2025