The Technology Policy Institute’s fifth webinar of the 2025 Winter Spectrum Series on Tuesday, March 11th entitled “The 2025 Spectrum Agenda” included Shawn Bone, Senior Director of Public Policy at Verizon, Harold Feld, Vice President of Public Knowledge, Blair Levin, Policy Advisor, New Street Research, David Redl, Founder & CEO of Salt Point Strategies, and Arpan Sura, Senior Counsel for Spectrum and Technology of the FCC Chairman’s Office, and Sarah Oh Lam of the Technology Policy Institute (moderator).
Key takeaways:
- Congress Should Restore Auction Authority with Flexible Framework
- Building Trust with DoD Essential for Spectrum Progress
- WRC-27 Preparations Needed Amid Geopolitical Uncertainty
- FCC Accelerating Spectrum Decision-Making Under Chairman Carr
- $62 Billion Question: Dish’s 2026 Spectrum Decision Looms Large
More details:
Congress Should Restore Auction Authority with Flexible Framework: Panelists agreed Congress should restore the FCC’s auction authority. Congressional action on spectrum was characterized as primarily budget-driven, with potential for spectrum auction authority to be included in reconciliation. The panel critiqued the Congressional Budget Office’s scoring methodology as necessary but subjective and opaque. Rather than identifying specific bands, experts recommended Congress focus on general grants of auction authority to give agencies flexibility.
Building Trust with DoD Essential for Spectrum Progress: The discussion highlighted DoD as a key player with significant leverage through allies on Capitol Hill. The tension between defense spectrum needs and commercial interests represents a major challenge that requires bringing DoD “into the tent” to rebuild trust, as agencies cannot simply be rolled over in spectrum reallocations.
Urgent WRC-27 Preparations Needed Amid Geopolitical Uncertainty: The panel stressed urgent preparation for the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference to maintain U.S. leadership. Significant concerns were raised about U.S. relationships with traditional allies in light of recent geopolitical tensions, questioning whether historical spectrum partnerships can be maintained in the current political environment.
FCC Accelerating Spectrum Decision-Making Under Chairman Carr: The FCC under Chairman Carr is prioritizing faster processes, definable targets in both megahertz and timeframes, and a holistic approach encompassing terrestrial, satellite, licensed, shared, and unlicensed spectrum. The Commission is actively moving on AWS-3 and exploring the upper C-band.
$62 Billion Question: Dish’s 2026 Spectrum Decision Looms Large: The panel highlighted Dish Network’s upcoming 2026 decision on whether to build out their network or sell their spectrum (valued at approximately $62 billion) as potentially market-shifting, noting this issue receives little attention in DC despite its significance to Wall Street.
Executive Branch Needs Clear Spectrum Direction: Panel members recommended that the executive branch (OSTP, NTIA, and the State Department) provide clear direction on spectrum policy. How the Trump administration will implement the National Spectrum Strategy are key concerns for stakeholders.
Broadcast TV ATSC 3.0: Efficiency Gains and Future Auction Potential: The discussion touched on broadcast television spectrum and the ATSC 3.0 standard, noting that while not primarily about freeing spectrum, the new standard enables more efficient use through channel sharing and compression. This could eventually lead to opportunities for another incentive auction, though consumer protection concerns about mandatory device upgrades were raised.
Spectrum R&D Requires Private and Public Support: The panel discussed R&D in three categories: commercial innovation (primarily private-sector driven), government operational research (to enable policy changes), and long-term academic research. Specific priorities included sharing technologies, improved receivers, compression, and filters. The FCC’s policy statement on receiver standards was highlighted as an important but underused tool for improving spectrum efficiency. While acknowledging that most R&D comes from the private sector, panelists emphasized that government leadership is essential where regulatory approval is needed, as companies won’t invest in technologies that aren’t yet authorized for use.
Private Networking: America’s Competitive Edge in Wireless: Panelists identified private networking as an area where the U.S. is leading and should continue to focus, particularly with CBRS and O-RAN, representing a significant opportunity to maintain an edge in wireless innovation rather than focusing on harmonization with other countries.
Sarah Oh Lam is a Senior Fellow at the Technology Policy Institute. Oh completed her PhD in Economics from George Mason University, and holds a JD from GMU and a BS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. She was previously the Operations and Research Director for the Information Economy Project at George Mason School of Law. She has also presented research at the 39th Telecommunications Policy Research Conference and has co-authored work published in the Northwestern Journal of Technology & Intellectual Property among other research projects. Her research interests include law and economics, regulatory analysis, and technology policy.
Scott Wallsten is President and Senior Fellow at the Technology Policy Institute and also a senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. He is an economist with expertise in industrial organization and public policy, and his research focuses on competition, regulation, telecommunications, the economics of digitization, and technology policy. He was the economics director for the FCC's National Broadband Plan and has been a lecturer in Stanford University’s public policy program, director of communications policy studies and senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation, a senior fellow at the AEI – Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, an economist at The World Bank, a scholar at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and a staff economist at the U.S. President’s Council of Economic Advisers. He holds a PhD in economics from Stanford University.
