Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2025 · Introduced in House (2025-01-23)

SEC. 2. Identification of spectrum for reallocation and auction

(a) Definitions

In this section:
- The term appropriate committees of Congress means—
- The term Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information.
- The term Commission means the Federal Communications Commission.
- The term covered band means the band of frequencies between 1.3 gigahertz and 13.2 gigahertz.
- The term Federal entity has the meaning given the term in section 113(l) of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (). 47 U.S.C. 923(l)
- The term full-power commercial licensed use cases means flexible use wireless broadband services with base station power levels sufficient for high-power, high-density, and wide-area commercial mobile services, consistent with the service rules under part 27 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations, for wireless broadband deployments throughout the covered band.

(b) Identification for reallocation

(1) In general
- The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, shall identify not less than 2500 megahertz of spectrum in the covered band, that as of the date of enactment of this Act is allocated for Federal use or for shared Federal and non-Federal use, for reallocation for non-Federal use, shared Federal and non-Federal use, or a combination thereof, including not less than 1250 megahertz for full-power commercial licensed use cases.
- In general
(2) Schedule
- The Assistant Secretary shall identify the spectrum under paragraph (1) according to the following schedule:
  - Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall identify not less than 1250 megahertz of spectrum.
  - Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall identify any remaining spectrum required to be identified under paragraph (1) after compliance with subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.

(1) In general
- With respect to the spectrum identified for reallocation under subsection (b) for commercial licensed use, the Commission shall grant licenses through systems of competitive bidding for not less than 1250 megahertz of the spectrum for full-power commercial licensed use cases.
- In general
(2) Schedule
- The Commission shall auction the spectrum under paragraph (1) according to the following schedule:
  - Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall complete 1 or more systems of competitive bidding for not less than 600 megahertz of the spectrum.
  - Not later than 6 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall complete 1 or more systems of competitive bidding for any remaining spectrum required to be auctioned under paragraph (1) after compliance with subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.

(d) Unlicensed use

Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall make available on an unlicensed basis not less than 125 megahertz of the spectrum in the covered band.

(e) Licensed or unlicensed use

Not later than 8 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall make available for use on a licensed or unlicensed basis any remaining spectrum that is—
- identified under subsection (b); and
- not—
  - auctioned under subsection (c); or
  - made available on an unlicensed basis under subsection (d).

(f) Auction proceeds To cover 110 percent of Federal relocation or sharing costs

Nothing in this section shall be construed to relieve the Commission from the requirements under section 309(j)(16)(B) of the Communications Act of 1934 (). 47 U.S.C. 309(j)(16)(B)

(g) Auction authority

Section 309(j)(11) of the Communications Act of 1934 () is amended— 47 U.S.C. 309(j)(11)
- by striking grant a license or permit under this subsection shall expire March 9, 2023and inserting complete a system of competitive bidding under this subsection shall expire September 30, 2027;
- by striking and with respect toand inserting with respect to; and
- by inserting before the period at the end the following: Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2025.

(h) Reporting requirements and quarterly briefings

(1) NTIA progress report on spectrum identification
- (A) In general
  - On each date as of which the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, has identified the quantity of spectrum required under subparagraph (A) or (B), respectively, of subsection (b)(2), the Assistant Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report detailing the findings and conclusions that the Assistant Secretary used to support the identification.
  - In general
- (B) Contents
  - The Assistant Secretary shall include in each report submitted under subparagraph (A)—
    - (i) an analysis of the spectrum identified; and
    - (ii) the Federal entities with which the Assistant Secretary coordinated regarding the spectrum identified.
- (C) Form of report
  - Each report required under subparagraph (A) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex.
(2) NTIA and FCC reports on reallocation of spectrum identified
- (A) Initial progress report
  - Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the progress of the Assistant Secretary in identifying spectrum in the covered band for reallocation under subsection (b) that includes—
    - (i) an assessment of the operations of the Federal entities and non-Federal entities that operate in the spectrum in the covered band; and
    - (ii) a preliminary analysis of which portions of the covered band are being considered for reallocation in accordance with subsection (b)(1).
- (B) Reports on 2 tranches of identified spectrum
  - Not later than 60 days after each date as of which the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, has identified the quantity of spectrum required under subparagraph (A) or (B), respectively, of subsection (b)(2), the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that includes—
    - (i) an assessment of the operations of the Federal entities and non-Federal entities that operate in the applicable spectrum, current as of the date of the submission of the report;
    - (ii) the steps the President has taken to begin the process of withdrawing or modifying the assignments of Federal entities in the covered band as necessary for the Commission to begin and complete the systems of competitive bidding under subsection (c);
    - (iii) an estimate of the funding required for the relocation or sharing costs (as defined in section 113(g)(3) of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act ()) expected to be incurred by the Federal entities described in clause (ii) in connection with the reallocation of the applicable spectrum; and 47 U.S.C. 923(g)(3)

SEC. 3. Spectrum Relocation Fund modernization

(a) Congressional notification timelines

Section 118 of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act () is amended— 47 U.S.C. 928
- in subsection (d)(2)—
  - in subparagraph (C), by striking 30 daysand inserting 15 days; and
  - in the matter following subparagraph (C), by striking 30 daysand inserting 15 days;
- in subsection (f)(2)(B)(iv), by striking 30 daysand inserting 15 days; and
- in subsection (g)(2)(D)(ii), by striking 60 daysand inserting 15 days.

(b) Comparable capability

Section 113(g)(3) of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act () is amended— 47 U.S.C. 923(g)(3)
- in subparagraph (A)—
  - in clause (iv), by striking and inserting a semicolon;
  - in clause (v), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and
    - (vi) the costs associated with replacing systems and equipment with state-of-the-art systems and equipment, including systems and equipment with additional functions, only if the state-of-the-art systems and equipment allow for the reallocation of significantly more valuable spectrum frequencies from Federal use to exclusive non-Federal use or to shared Federal and non-Federal use than would be reallocated if systems and equipment were replaced with comparable systems and equipment or systems and equipment with incidental increases in functionality, provided the costs would not jeopardize the ability of the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Chair of the Commission, to reallocate eligible spectrum frequencies from Federal use to exclusive non-Federal use or to shared use.
  - by adding at the end the following:
- in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking .

H.R. 651

Table of contents

SEC. 1. Short title

SEC. 2. Identification of spectrum for reallocation and auction

SEC. 3. Spectrum Relocation Fund modernization