As Congress debates reauthorizing the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) spectrum auction authority, we must not forget the real-world impact on consumers.
In 1993, Congress initially authorized a process for auctioning spectrum through competitive bidding. During its 30-year history, the FCC’s spectrum auction authority has enabled the agency to raise more than $233 billion for the U.S. Treasury,1 which has helped unlock thousands of megahertz of spectrum, and in turn powered each new generation of wireless technology.
In the month and a half since the FCC’s auction authority lapsed, there has been much discussion about the impact on the wireless industry, the FCC’s operations, and American competitiveness, and rightfully so. But what about consumers? According to one estimate, the average number of consumer connected devices over the past six years has almost doubled - increasing from 9 per household in 2016 to 16 per household in 2022.2 Another study found the number of 5G connections will double, growing from 1 billion in 2022 to 2 billion by 2025.3
The Consumer Technology Association represents some 1500 companies, spanning the entire wireless ecosystem, including chipmakers, smartphone manufacturers, and wireless service providers committed to bringing fast, reliable connectivity to communities across America. Together, they share a common need for licensed and unlicensed spectrum to enable the latest and greatest smartphones, wearables, drones, and other wireless technologies that consumers crave.
By restoring the FCC’s auction authority, the agency can get back to making additional spectrum available for commercial use, which for consumers, means faster, more robust wireless services. For example, if you’ve ever been to a sporting event, and experienced your internet speeds slowing to a crawl, additional spectrum can help reduce that congestion. Looking to the future, additional spectrum will power future generations of wireless, including 6G, as well as a wide range of bandwidth-intensive applications like AR/VR, telehealth, precision agriculture and AI.
Last week, CTA was proud to join with a coalition of trade associations, calling on Congress to restore the FCC’s authority. As this April 20th letter noted, “We want all Americans connected to the most advanced mobile and fixed broadband possible, and the FCC’s ability to conduct auctions plays an important role in meeting that critical national priority.”
Until this year, the FCC’s authority had never lapsed. With the debt ceiling deadline nearing, renewal of this authority is one such way to generate billions towards reducing our nation’s deficit. We are also holding U.S. businesses back and giving global competitors (like China) a competitive advantage at a critical time in the race to 5G and beyond. It’s time for Congress to come together on a bipartisan basis, and put consumers first, by passing a multi-year reauthorization of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority.
1 Letter from FCC Chair and Commissioners to Congressional Leaders (April 18, 2023), available at: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-392666A1.pdf.
2 Connected Tech Driving Demand for Increased Broadband Speeds, Parks Associates (January 23, 2023), available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/connected-tech-driving-demand-increased-broadband-speeds-parks/.
3 Mobile Momentum: 5G connections to surpass 1 billion in 2022, says GSMA (March 2, 2022), available at: https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/mobile-momentum-5g-connections-to-surpass-1-billion-in-2022-says-gsma/.