The FCC asked Congress to approve $410,743,000 in budget authority for Fiscal Year 2024. If approved, it would be a 5.3 percent increase of $20.5 million over the appropriated level of $390 million for FY 2023.
The Commission requests $136 million in budget authority for the spectrum auctions program. This request represents an increase of 3 percent from the FY 2023 appropriated level of $13.2 million. The request comes after Congress last week let the agency’s auction authority lapse for the first time in 30 years, Inside Towers reported. The Commission’s spectrum auctions program has generated over $233.5 billion for government use, the agency tells Congress. The total cost of the auctions program has been less than $2.5 billion or 1.1 percent of the total auctions’ revenue.
The agency told lawmakers if its auction authority wasn’t extended, the Commission’s “authority to grant licenses or construction permits for stations using spectrum subject to mutually exclusive application using competitive bidding will terminate on March 9, 2023, except for spectrum identified pursuant to the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2015 and [the Infrastructure Law],” the FCC noted. “The budget proposes to extend the FCC’s auction authority for ten years through 2033.”
The Commission requests 1,600 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) funded by budget authority from regulatory fee offsetting collections, spectrum auctions program, and other budget authorities provided by the President and Congress. This FTE level is the same as the FY 2023 appropriated and enacted level.
The FY 2024 budget request will be used to support the following Strategic Goals for FY 2024:
- Pursue a “100 Percent” Broadband Policy
- Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility
- Empower Consumers
- Enhance Public Safety and National Security
- Advance America’s Global Competitiveness
- Foster Operational Excellence
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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