The implementation puzzle is harder than the legislation suggested. Roth said that as a Senate staffer drafting the spectrum provisions, she had “more of an impatient approach to spectrum identification.” On the implementation side, she’s discovered that some federal systems slated for relocation don’t yet have specifications for their replacement equipment, that agencies face competing cost and timeline pressures that work against spectral efficiency, and that accessing Spectrum Relocation Fund dollars requires a 60-day mandatory congressional notification that can’t easily be waived.
7 GHz is furthest along, but a presidential deadline is driving the pace. The December 2025 presidential memorandum requires NTIA to identify spectrum in the 7.125-7.4 GHz band by the end of 2026. That band already has SRF funding. The 2.7-2.9 GHz and 4.4-4.94 GHz bands are behind because agencies still need SRF resources to conduct studies, but Roth said they “aren’t going to be far behind.” DOT is “very eager” to work on 2.7-2.9 GHz, and DOJ, the second largest user in the 4 GHz band, has “shown a willingness to work with us.”
Roth is using the presidential memorandum as a shield against agency resistance. Asked whether the President’s authority to withdraw spectrum on national security grounds functions as a de facto veto, Roth said “open dialogue” through the IRAC process is the best way to avoid disputes that would require White House intervention. She described the presidential memorandum as sending “a strong signal to the agencies regarding how these studies and identification are to proceed.”
Federal agencies are starting to internalize the national security case for commercial spectrum. Roth said there has been a “sea change” in how agencies approach spectrum, driven by a recognition that U.S. military strength depends on commercial spectrum innovation and that spectrum underutilization carries “massive opportunity costs” from a national security perspective. She acknowledged, though, that “we still have a ways to go.”
The U.S. does not yet have a consensus position for WRC-27 on agenda item 1.7. Roth said NTIA is working with the FCC, State Department, and White House to develop positions before the CITEL meeting in April, but did not describe what the U.S. position actually is. She emphasized that WRC-27 will be “very satellite heavy” and said NTIA is building coalitions through training programs in Africa and DC.
CBRS regulatory uncertainty has not yet been raised as a concern by BEAD participants. Asked about the risk that BEAD subgrantees are building fixed wireless networks on CBRS spectrum while the FCC has an open rulemaking that could change the band’s rules, Roth said she has not heard “much in the way of concern about BEAD” on this issue. She said NTIA would “be sure to monitor” it and would discuss any concerns with the FCC.
The DC broadband case study highlights both oversight success and systemic data challenges. Roth described finding that all of DC’s remaining “unserved” locations were either already served or not legitimate serviceable locations. She acknowledged that no map is perfect and that ensuring data accuracy across all states is a “joint effort” involving NTIA, state broadband offices, and providers. Providers who accept subsidies for non-serviceable locations would face enforcement penalties.
$21 billion in BEAD savings will be spent, not returned to the Treasury. Roth said returning the funds would require a congressional rescission, and NTIA is “proceeding with the assumption that the funding is going to be spent.” She said any spending must be “outcome-driven” with “performance metrics,” and warned against both wasteful and “distortionary” consequences. NTIA is taking more time to issue guidance to ensure it’s done right.
Federal spectrum valuation will be a new and difficult exercise. The law requires biennial reports on the value of spectrum held by federal agencies. Roth acknowledged the challenge of valuing non-market uses like national defense and weather radar, as well as different types of commercial use including licensed, unlicensed, shared, and satellite. She said the exercise is “absolutely tied together” with spectrum identification, suggesting valuation findings could influence which bands are prioritized for reallocation.
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.
