H.R. 651

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

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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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