119-hr651

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 651 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 651

To require the Federal Communications Commission to auction spectrum in 
 the band between 1.3 gigahertz and 13.2 gigahertz, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 23, 2025

 Mr. Allen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To require the Federal Communications Commission to auction spectrum in 
 the band between 1.3 gigahertz and 13.2 gigahertz, and for other 
 purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION OF SPECTRUM FOR REALLOCATION AND AUCTION.

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
 ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
        (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
 Transportation of the Senate; and
        (B) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
 House of Representatives.

    (2) Assistant secretary.--The term ``Assistant Secretary'' 
 means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 
 and Information.

    (3) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
 Communications Commission.

    (4) Covered band.--The term ``covered band'' means the band 
 of frequencies between 1.3 gigahertz and 13.2 gigahertz.

    (5) Federal entity.--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) ).

    (6) Full-power commercial licensed use cases.--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.

    (2) Schedule.--The Assistant Secretary shall identify the 
 spectrum under paragraph

    (1) according to the following 
 schedule:
        (A) 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.
        (B) 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.
            (c) Auctions.--

    (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.

    (2) Schedule.--The Commission shall auction the spectrum 
 under paragraph

    (1) according to the following schedule:
        (A) 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.
        (B) 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--

    (1) identified under subsection

    (b) ; and

    (2) not--
        (A) auctioned under subsection
            (c) ; or
        (B) 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 (47 U.S.C. 309

    (j)

    (11) ) is amended--

    (1) by striking ``grant a license or permit under this 
 subsection shall expire March 9, 2023'' and inserting 
 ``complete a system of competitive bidding under this 
 subsection shall expire September 30, 2027'';

    (2) by striking ``and with respect to'' and inserting 
 ``with respect to''; and

    (3) by inserting before the period at the end the 
 following: ``, and with respect to the electromagnetic spectrum 
 in the covered band (as defined in 

section 2

    (a) of the Spectrum 
 Pipeline Act of 2025), such authority shall expire on the date 
 that is 8 years after the date of enactment of that Act''.

    (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.
        (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 (47 U.S.C. 
 923

    (g)

    (3) )) expected to be incurred by the 
 Federal entities described in clause
            (ii) in 
 connection with the reallocation of the 
 applicable spectrum; and
            (iv) steps the Assistant Secretary is 
 taking to ensure global harmonization with the 
 spectrum to be reallocated.
            (C) Form of report.--Each report required under 
 this paragraph shall be submitted in unclassified form, 
 but may contain a classified annex.

    (3) Annual briefings.--
        (A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 
 until the date that is 10 years after such date of 
 enactment, the Assistant Secretary and the Chairman of 
 the Commission shall provide the appropriate committees 
 of Congress with a briefing on the progress of the 
 Assistant Secretary and the Chairman in complying with 
 the requirements of this section.
        (B) Contents.--The Assistant Secretary and the 
 Chairman of the Commission shall include in each 
 briefing under subparagraph
        (A) --
            (i) an update on the specific frequencies 
 of spectrum under consideration or that have 
 been identified to meet the requirements of 
 subsection

    (b) ;
            (ii) an explanation of the Federal entities 
 and non-Federal entities that operate on the 
 frequencies described in clause
            (i) and the 
 specific services or systems utilized by those 
 entities on those frequencies;
            (iii) the extent to which Federal entities 
 are cooperating with the efforts of the 
 Assistant Secretary and the Chairman of the 
 Commission to comply with the requirements of 
 this Act;
            (iv) an update on the progress of the 
 systems of competitive bidding required by 
 subsection
            (c) ; and
            (v) any additional information related to 
 compliance with this Act by the Assistant 
 Secretary and the Chairman.
            (C) Form of briefing.--Any classified information 
 that would otherwise be provided in a briefing under 
 subparagraph
        (A) shall be provided in a separate 
 classified briefing.

SEC. 3. SPECTRUM RELOCATION FUND MODERNIZATION.

    (a) Congressional Notification Timelines.--

Section 118 of the 
National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization 
Act (47 U.S.C. 928) is amended--

    (1) in subsection
            (d) (2) --
        (A) in subparagraph
            (C) , by striking ``30 days'' 
 and inserting ``15 days''; and
        (B) in the matter following subparagraph
            (C) , by 
 striking ``30 days'' and inserting ``15 days'';

    (2) in subsection

    (f)

    (2)
        (B)
            (iv) , by striking ``30 days'' 
 and inserting ``15 days''; and

    (3) in subsection

    (g)

    (2)
            (D) 
            (ii) , by striking ``60 days'' 
 and inserting ``15 days''.

    (b) Comparable Capability.--

Section 113

    (g)

    (3) of the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (47 
U.S.C. 923

    (g)

    (3) ) is amended--

    (1) in subparagraph
        (A) --
        (A) in clause
            (iv) , by striking ``; and'' and 
 inserting a semicolon;
        (B) in clause
            (v) , by striking the period at the 
 end and inserting ``; and''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (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.''; 
 and

    (2) in subparagraph
        (B)
            (ii) , by striking ``incidental''.
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