Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told us he’s reached a “resolution” with a handful of GOP military hawks on the spectrum language in the party’s reconciliation package.
After much infighting, they’ve agreed on a proposal that would renew the FCC authority until 2034 and make 800 megahertz of new spectrum auctionable. Key to sealing the deal is that the proposal will now ensure that certain frequencies under Pentagon control will not have to be shared with commercial users, according to Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D).
Rounds, who led the charge to protect Defense Department use of certain spectrum frequencies, said Tuesday he has “signed off” on the deal.
With the GOP now seemingly fully behind Cruz’s spectrum proposal, let’s look at who won and who lost in this policy fight.
Winners.
Cruz. The spectrum provision is a huge win for Cruz. He told us this month that when he told Speaker Mike Johnson earlier this year that he wanted to do spectrum in reconciliation, the speaker didn’t believe it was possible.
Well, looks like he got it done. Getting the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, GOP hawks and wireless carriers all on the same page marks the biggest accomplishment of his chairmanship so far.
Hawks. We can’t forget defense-minded GOP Sens. Deb Fischer (Neb.), Rounds, Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.).
They set out to protect the military spectrum from auctions even as Cruz and the powerful wireless industry pressured them to cave. They didn’t.
Wireless. The three major wireless carriers — AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile — are ecstatic about the GOP spectrum plan.
For a long time, they’ve pushed to make more airwaves available for auctions so they could boost their 5G service in the United States. The GOP bill will be a financial boon for the industry.
Losers.
Cable. Perhaps no industry stands more to lose if the spectrum part of the reconciliation bill becomes law than the cable industry.
Its wireless competitors are getting new resources, and the fate of cable’s own spectrum is unknown.
AT&T CEO John Stankey told us in a recent interview that he’d like to see the Citizens Broadband Radio Service band, used by cable companies and others, turned into high-power exclusive use.
Republicans didn’t exclude CBRS from auctions, as the cable industry had requested, and now it could be fair game for an auction.
Democrats. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) often sided with the GOP hawks to oppose the spectrum auctions, raising national security concerns.
Cantwell also bought into the CBRS fight and has also warned of an impact in aviation safety. But like the cable industry, she lost this battle too.
Wi-Fi. Big Tech and major manufacturers had asked Congress to exclude the 6 GHz band, used for fast Wi-Fi, from auctions.
The House bill did exclude those frequencies, but the Senate proposal, which is the one likely to become law, doesn’t have the carve-out.
Stankey expressed some interest in turning that band into exclusive use. Companies using 6 GHz for Wi-Fi will now have to take their fight to the FCC when it begins to conduct the auctions.
