FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Monday called for the agency to quickly adopt rules that will allow the agency to proceed with a spectrum auction to fully fund the removal, replacement, and disposal of Huawei and ZTE equipment and services from U.S. networks. The U.S. intelligence and defense agencies say the Chinese-made gear is a threat to national security.
Inside Towers reported the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act provides a mechanism to fully fund the Rip & Replace program. The Act gives the Commission authority to auction AWS-3 spectrum licenses in its inventory.
The AWS-3 auction will be the Commission’s first spectrum auction since Congress let its general auction authority lapse in March of 2023. With the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) circulated to her colleagues for their consideration, the Chairwoman hopes to start the rulemaking process to run an auction and make up the more than $3 billion shortfall for Rip and Replace.
“With ‘Salt Typhoon’ and other recent incidents, we are all acutely aware of the risk posed by Chinese hackers and intelligence services to our privacy, economy, and security,” said Rosenworcel. “Today’s proposal is a critical step toward finally filling the shortfall in the Rip and Replace program. I am confident that the FCC’s world-leading and award-winning auction team will meet this important moment.”
The NPRM circulated by Rosenworcel would, if adopted by a vote of the Commission, propose updates to the service-specific competitive bidding rules to grant licenses for spectrum in the FCC’s inventory in the AWS-3 spectrum bands (generally the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands). In 2014, the Commission previously assigned the majority of AWS-3 licenses in Auction 97.
There remains spectrum in these bands that is not currently licensed due to various circumstances, according to the agency. Pursuant to the Congressional mandate, the Commission will now offer licenses for the unassigned AWS-3 spectrum in a new auction.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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