Senators want to pay federal agencies to give up un-needed spectrum

What a pretty cell tower. (credit: aaron_anderer)

US senators on Friday unveiled legislation to shift spectrum from federal agencies to the mobile industry, which would provide more capacity for smartphones and other devices that rely on wireless Internet access.

A draft of the bill from the Senate Commerce Committee proposes "a system of financial incentives for federal agencies to give up more of their underused spectrum," The Wall Street Journal wrote. Agencies would receive up to 25 percent of auction proceeds from spectrum sold to industry. The agencies could also lease their spectrum licenses to companies, or share spectrum with private industry in exchange for financial incentives.

A recent budget deal would require the government to identify 30MHz of government-controlled spectrum that could be auctioned off by 2024. The draft bill circulated Friday would boost that amount to 50MHz. This would come from bands below the 3GHz range; a portion could go toward unlicensed use instead of commercial licenses.

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