Lawmakers press for spectrum coordination after 5G squabble

Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are looking to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a small agency inside the Department of Commerce, to reassert its control over federal spectrum management.

"We continue to see federal agencies circumvent NTIA in the spectrum management process or ignore changes in the spectrum landscape," Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), the ranking member of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, said at a Feb. 17 hearing. "More frequently, we see these technical spectrum disputes spilling out into the public."

Latta was referring to the dispute about the implementation of the Federal Communication Commission's order to allow telecommunications providers to deploy 5G services in swathes of mid-band spectrum called C-band. The aviation industry and the Federal Aviation Administration registered objections to the plan as it was scheduled to take effect in January, leading to some flight cancellations out of concerns that the new 5G services would interfere with aircraft altimeters and radio communications. 

"Rather than engage with expert engineers at the NTIA and FCC and participate in FCC's public and transparent process, the aviation industry and the FAA engaged in fearmongering tactics by going to the press and threatening to ground planes," Latta said. 

Lawmakers are looking to Alan Davidson, recently confirmed as NTIA administrator, to take a stronger role in managing the process.

At Wednesday's hearing, Davidson sought to reassure members about NTIA's role as federal spectrum manager, as well as announcing more formal plans for collaboration about spectrum deployments between FCC and NTIA.

"I think this is a critical responsibility for NTIA, as we've seen, and I think we've seen also the cost of not being well-coordinated," Davidson said. "We have to get spectrum out in a way that meets the needs of commercial users, meets the needs of federal agencies. The American public demands it because we want to meet their needs, and they love using these wireless services and technologies."

Davidson told lawmakers that a planned update of a 2003 memorandum of understanding between NTIA and FCC outlining coordination on spectrum management issues is a top priority.

"It's definitely something we're … working on right now," Davidson said at the hearing. "And I am optimistic that we can do it certainly before the end of the year."