I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 857

To establish procedures to improve the allocation and assignment of the

electromagnetic spectrum, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 4, 1993

Mr. OXLEY (for himself, Mr. GILLMOR, and Mr. HASTERT) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

NOVEMBER 4, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. ARMEY, Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. BAKER of California, Mr.

ROYCE, Mr. COX, Mr. PACKARD, and Mr. DOOLITTLE

A BILL

To establish procedures to improve the allocation and assignment of the electromagnetic spectrum, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emerging Tele5 communications Technologies Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) spectrum is a valuable natural resource;
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1 (2) it is in the national interest that this re2 source be used more efficiently;

3 (3) the spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz) is

4 becoming increasingly congested, and, as a result en5 tities that develop innovative new spectrum-based

6 services are finding it difficult to bring these services

7 to the marketplace;

8 (4) scarcity of assignable frequencies can and

9 will—

10 (A) impede the development and commer11 cialization of new spectrum-based products and

12 services;

13 (B) reduce the capacity and efficiency of

14 the United States telecommunications system;

15 and

16 (C) adversely affect the productive capacity

17 and international competitiveness of the United

18 States economy;

19 (5) the United States Government presently

20 lacks explicit authority to use excess

21 radiocommunications capacity to satisfy non-United

22 States Government requirements;

23 (6) more efficient use of the spectrum can pro24 vide the resources for increased economic returns;
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1 (7) many commercial users derive significant

2 economic benefits from their spectrum licenses, both

3 through the income they earn from their use of the

4 spectrum and the returns they realize upon transfer

5 of their licenses to third parties; but under current

6 procedures, the United States public does not suffi7 ciently share in their benefits;

8 (8) many United States Government functions

9 and responsibilities depend heavily on the use of the

10 radio spectrum, involve unique applications, and are

11 performed in the broad national and public interest;

12 (9) competitive bidding for spectrum can yield

13 significant benefits for the United States economy

14 by increasing the efficiency of spectrum allocations,

15 assignment, and use; and for United States tax16 payers by producing substantial revenues for the

17 United States Treasury; and

18 (10) the Secretary, the President, and the Com19 mission should be directed to take appropriate steps

20 to foster the more efficient use of this valuable na21 tional resource, including the reallocation of a target

22 amount of 200 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum from

23 United States Government use under section 305 of

24 the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 305) to non25 United States Government use pursuant to other
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1 provisions of the Communications Act and the im2 plementation of competitive bidding procedures by

3 the Commission for some new assignments of the

4 spectrum.

5 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SPECTRUM PLANNING.

6 (a) PLANNING ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary and the

7 Chairman of the Commission shall, at least twice each

8 year, conduct joint spectrum planning meetings with re9 spect to the following issues:

10 (1) future spectrum needs;

11 (2) the spectrum allocation actions necessary to

12 accommodate those needs, including consideration of

13 innovation and marketplace developments that may

14 affect the relative efficiencies of different portions of

15 the spectrum; and

16 (3) actions necessary to promote the efficient

17 use of the spectrum, including proven spectrum

18 management techniques to promote increased shared

19 use of the spectrum as a means of increasing non20 United States Government access, and innovation in

21 spectrum utilization including means of providing in22 centives for spectrum users to develop innovative

23 services and technologies.

24 (b) REPORTS.—The Secretary and the Chairman of

25 the Commission shall submit a joint annual report to the
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1 President on the joint spectrum planning meetings con2 ducted under subsection (a) and any recommendations for

3 action developed in such meetings.

4 (c) OPEN PROCESS.—The Secretary and the Com5 mission will conduct an open process under this section

6 to ensure the full consideration and exchange of views

7 among any interested entities, including all private, public,

8 commercial, and governmental interests.

9 SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF REALLOCABLE FREQUENCIES.

10 (a) IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED.—The Secretary

11 shall prepare and submit to the President the reports re12 quired by subsection (d) to identify bands of frequencies

13 that—

14 (1) are allocated on a primary basis for United

15 States Government use and eligible for licensing

16 pursuant to section 305(a) of the Communications

17 Act (47 U.S.C. 305(a));

18 (2) are not required for the present or identifi19 able future needs of the United States Government;

20 (3) can feasibly be made available during the

21 next 15 years after enactment of this Act for use

22 under the provisions of the Communications Act for

23 non-United States Government users;

24 (4) will not result in costs to the Federal Gov25 ernment that are excessive in relation to the benefits
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1 that may be obtained from the potential non-United

2 States Government uses; and

3 (5) are likely to have significant value for non4 United States Government uses under the Commu5 nications Act.

6 (b) AMOUNT OF SPECTRUM RECOMMENDED.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall rec8 ommend as a goal for reallocation, for use by non9 United States Government stations, bands of fre10 quencies constituting a target amount of 200 MHz,

11 that are located below 6 GHz, and that meet the cri12 teria specified in paragraphs (1) through (5) of sub13 section (a). If the Secretary identifies (as meeting

14 such criteria) bands of frequencies totalling more

15 than 200 MHz, the Secretary shall identify and rec16 ommend for reallocation those bands (totalling not

17 less than 200 MHz) that are likely to have the

18 greatest potential for non-United States Government

19 uses under the Communications Act.

20 (2) MIXED USES PERMITTED TO BE COUNT21 ED.—Bands of frequencies which the Secretary rec22 ommends be partially retained for use by United

23 States Government stations, but which are also rec24 ommended to be reallocated and made available

25 under the Communications Act for use by non-
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1 United States Government stations, may be counted

2 toward the target 200 MHz of spectrum required by

3 paragraph (1) of this subsection, except that—

4 (A) the bands of frequencies counted under

5 this paragraph may not count toward more

6 than one-half of the amount targeted by para7 graph (1) of this subsection;

8 (B) a band of frequencies may not be

9 counted under this paragraph unless the assign10 ments of the band to United States Government

11 stations under section 305 of the Communica12 tions Act (47 U.S.C. 305) are limited by geo13 graphic area, by time, or by other means so as

14 to guarantee that the potential use to be made

15 by which United States Government stations is

16 substantially less (as measured by geographic

17 area, time, or otherwise) than the potential

18 United States Government use to be made; and

19 (C) the operational sharing permitted

20 under this paragraph shall be subject to proce21 dures which the Commission and the Depart22 ment of Commerce shall establish and imple23 ment to ensure against harmful interference.

24 (c) CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION.—
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1 (1) NEEDS OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERN2 MENT.—In determining whether a band of fre3 quencies meets the criteria specified in subsection

4 (a)(2), the Secretary shall—

5 (A) consider whether the band of fre6 quencies is used to provide a communications

7 service that is or could be available from a com8 mercial provider;

9 (B) seek to promote—

10 (i) the maximum practicable reliance

11 on commercially available substitutes;

12 (ii) the sharing of frequencies (as per13 mitted under subsection (b)(2));

14 (iii) the development and use of new

15 communications technologies; and

16 (iv) the use of nonradiating commu17 nications systems where practicable; and

18 (C) seek to avoid—

19 (i) serious degradation of United

20 States Government services and oper21 ations;

22 (ii) excessive costs to the United

23 States Government and civilian users of

24 such Government services; and
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1 (iii) identification of any bands for

2 reallocation that are likely to be subject to

3 substitution for the reasons specified in

4 section 5(b)(2) (A) through (C).

5 (2) FEASIBILITY OF USE.—In determining

6 whether a frequency band meets the criteria speci7 fied in subsection (a)(3), the Secretary shall—

8 (A) assume such frequencies will be as9 signed by the Commission under section 303 of

10 the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 303) over

11 the course of fifteen years after the enactment

12 of this Act;

13 (B) assume reasonable rates of scientific

14 progress and growth of demand for tele15 communications services;

16 (C) determine the extent to which the

17 reallocation or reassignment will relieve actual

18 or potential scarcity of frequencies available for

19 non-United States Government use;

20 (D) seek to include frequencies which can

21 be used to stimulate the development of new

22 technologies; and

23 (E) consider the cost to reestablish United

24 States Government services displaced by the
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1 reallocation of spectrum during the fifteen year

2 period.

3 (3) COSTS TO THE UNITED STATES GOVERN4 MENT.—In determining whether a frequency band

5 meets the criteria specified in subsection (a)(4), the

6 Secretary shall consider—

7 (A) the costs to the United States Govern8 ment of reaccommodating its services in order

9 to make spectrum available for non-United

10 States Government use, including the incremen11 tal costs directly attributable to the loss of the

12 use of the frequency band; and

13 (B) the benefits that could be obtained

14 from reallocating such spectrum to non-United

15 States Government users, including the value of

16 such spectrum in promoting—

17 (i) the delivery of improved service to

18 the public;

19 (ii) the introduction of new services;

20 and

21 (iii) the development of new commu22 nications technologies.

23 (4) NON-UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT USE.—

24 In determining whether a band of frequencies meets
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1 the criteria specified in subsection (a)(5), the Sec2 retary shall consider—

3 (A) the extent to which equipment is com4 mercially available that is capable of utilizing

5 the band; and

6 (B) the proximity of frequencies that are

7 already assigned for non-United States Govern8 ment use.

9 (d) PROCEDURE FOR IDENTIFICATION OF

10 REALLOCABLE BANDS OF FREQUENCIES.—

11 (1) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS TO THE PRESI12 DENT.—

13 (A) Within 6 months after the date of the

14 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pre15 pare and submit to the President a report

16 which specifically identifies an initial 30 MHz

17 of spectrum, to be made available for

18 reallocation upon issuance of this report, and to

19 be distributed by the Commission pursuant to

20 competitive bidding procedures.

21 (B) Within 12 months after the date of the

22 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall pre23 pare and submit to the President a preliminary

24 report to identify reallocable bands of fre-
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1 quencies meeting the criteria established by this

2 section.

3 (C) Within 24 months after the date of en4 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare

5 and submit to the President a final report

6 which identifies the target 200 MHz for

7 reallocation (which shall encompass the initial

8 30 MHz previously designated under subpara9 graph (A) of this paragraph).

10 (D) The President shall publish the reports

11 required by this paragraph in the Federal Reg12 ister.

13 (2) CONVENING OF PRIVATE SECTOR ADVISORY

14 COMMITTEE.—Not later than 12 months after the

15 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall convene a

16 private sector advisory committee to—

17 (A) review the bands of frequencies identi18 fied in the preliminary report required by para19 graph (1)(B);

20 (B) advise the Secretary with respect to—

21 (i) the bands of frequencies which

22 should be included in the final report re23 quired by paragraph (1)(C); and
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1 (ii) the effective dates which should be

2 established under subsection (e) with re3 spect to such frequencies; and

4 (C) receives public comment on the Sec5 retary’s preliminary and final reports under this

6 subsection.

7 The private sector advisory committee shall meet at

8 least quarterly until each of the actions required by

9 section 5(a) have taken place.

10 (3) COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE; CHAIR11 MAN.—The private sector advisor committee shall in12 clude—

13 (A) the Chairman of the Commission, and

14 the Secretary, or their designated representa15 tives, and two other representatives from two

16 different United States Government agencies

17 that are spectrum users, other than the Depart18 ment of Commerce, as such agencies may be

19 designated by the Secretary; and

20 (B) persons who are representative of—

21 (i) manufacturers of spectrum-de22 pendent telecommunications equipment;

23 (ii) commercial users;

24 (iii) other users of the electromagnetic

25 spectrum; and
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1 (iv) other interested members of the

2 public who are knowledgeable about the

3 uses of the electromagnetic spectrum to be

4 chosen by the Secretary.

5 A majority of the members of the committee shall be

6 members described in subparagraph (B), and one of

7 such members shall be designated as chairman by

8 the Secretary.

9 (e) TIMETABLE FOR REALLOCATION AND LIMITA10 TION.—The Secretary shall, as part of the final report re11 quired by subsection (d)(1)(C), include a timetable for the

12 effective dates by which the President shall, within 15

13 years after enactment of this Act, withdraw or limit as14 signments on frequencies specified in the report. The rec15 ommended effective dates shall—

16 (1) permit the earliest possible reallocation of

17 the frequency bands, taking into account the re18 quirements of section 6(a);

19 (2) be based on the useful remaining life of

20 equipment that has been purchased or contracted for

21 to operate on identified frequencies;

22 (3) be based on the need to coordinate fre23 quency use with other nations; and

24 (4) avoid the imposition of incremental costs on

25 the United States Government directly attributable
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1 to the loss of the use of frequencies or the changing

2 to different frequencies that are excessive in relation

3 to the benefits that may be obtained from non-Unit4 ed States Government uses of the reassigned fre5 quencies.

6 SEC. 5. WITHDRAWAL OF ASSIGNMENT TO UNITED STATES

7 GOVERNMENT STATIONS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall—

9 (1) within three months after receipt of the

10 Secretary’s report under section 4(d)(1)(A), with11 draw or limit the assignment to a United States

12 Government station of any frequency on the initial

13 30 MHz which that report recommends for imme14 diate reallocation;

15 (2) with respect to other frequencies rec16 ommended for reallocation by the Secretary’s report

17 in section 4(d)(1)(C), by the effective dates rec18 ommended pursuant to section 4(e) (except as pro19 vided in section (b)(4)), withdraw or limit the as20 signment to a United States Government station of

21 any frequency which that report recommends be re22 allocated or available for mixed use on such effective

23 dates;

24 (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to

25 United States Government stations as necessary to
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1 adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assign2 ments; and

3 (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and

4 description of the actions taken under this sub5 section.

6 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—

7 (1) AUTHORITY TO SUBSTITUTE.—If the Presi8 dent determines that a circumstance described in

9 section 5(b)(2) exists, the President—

10 (A) may, within one month after receipt of

11 the Secretary’s report under section 4(d)(1)(A),

12 and within six months after receipt of the Sec13 retary’s report under section 4(d)(1)(C), sub14 stitute an alternative frequency or band of fre15 quencies for the frequency or band that is sub16 ject to such determination and withdraw (or

17 limit) the assignment of that alternative fre18 quency or band in the manner required by sub19 section (a); and

20 (B) shall publish in the Federal Register a

21 statement of the reasons for taking the action

22 described in subparagraph (A).

23 (2) GROUNDS FOR SUBSTITUTION.—For pur24 poses of paragraph (1), the following circumstances

25 are described in this paragraph:
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1 (A) the reassignment would seriously jeop2 ardize the national security interests of the

3 United States;

4 (B) the frequency proposed for reassign5 ment is uniquely suited to meeting important

6 United States Governmental needs;

7 (C) the reassignment would seriously jeop8 ardize public health or safety; or

9 (D) the reassignment will result in incre10 mental costs to the United States Government

11 that are excessive in relation to the benefits

12 that may be obtained from non-United States

13 Government uses of the reassigned frequency.

14 (3) CRITERIA FOR SUBSTITUTED FRE15 QUENCIES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a fre16 quency may not be substituted for a frequency iden17 tified by the final report of the Secretary under sec18 tion 4(d)(1)(C) unless the substituted frequency also

19 meets each of the criteria specified by section 4(a).

20 (4) DELAYS IN IMPLEMENTATION.—If the

21 President determines that any action cannot be com22 pleted by the effective dates recommended by the

23 Secretary pursuant to section 4(e), or that such an

24 action by such date would result in a frequency
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1 being unused as a consequence of the Commission’s

2 plan under section 6, the President may—

3 (A) withdraw or limit the assignment to

4 United States Government stations on a later

5 date that is consistent with such plan, by pro6 viding notice to that effect in the Federal Reg7 ister, including the reason that withdrawal at a

8 later date is required; or

9 (B) substitute alternative frequencies pur10 suant to the provisions of this subsection.

11 (c) COSTS OF WITHDRAWING FREQUENCIES AS12 SIGNED TO THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT; APPRO13 PRIATIONS AUTHORIZED.—Any United States Govern14 ment licensee, or non-United States Government entity op15 erating on behalf of a United States Government licensee,

16 that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this section

17 may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs

18 it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in ap19 propriation acts, that are directly attributable to the loss

20 of the use of the frequency pursuant to this section. The

21 estimates of these costs shall be prepared by the affected

22 agency, in consultation with the Department of Com23 merce.

24 (d) APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZED.—There are au25 thorized to be appropriated to the affected licensee agen-
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1 cies such sums as may be necessary to carry out the pur2 poses of this section.

3 SEC. 6. DISTRIBUTION OF FREQUENCIES BY THE COMMIS4 SION.

5 (a) PLANS SUBMITTED.—

6 (1) With respect to the initial 30 MHz to be re7 allocated from United States Government to non8 United States Government use under section

9 4(d)(1)(A), not later than 24 months after enact10 ment of this Act, the Commission shall complete a

11 public notice and comment proceeding regarding the

12 allocation of this spectrum and shall form a plan to

13 assign such spectrum pursuant to competitive bid14 ding procedures, pursuant to section 309(j) of the

15 Communications Act, during fiscal years 1996

16 through 1998.

17 (2) With respect to the remaining spectrum to

18 be reallocated from United States Government to

19 non-United States Government use under section

20 4(e), not later than two years after issuance of the

21 report required by section 4(d)(1)(C), the Commis22 sion shall complete a public notice and comment pro23 ceeding; and the Commission shall, after consulta24 tion with the Secretary, prepare and submit to the

25 President a plan for the distribution under the Com-
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1 munications Act of the frequency bands reallocated

2 pursuant to the requirements of this Act. Such plan

3 shall—

4 (A) not propose the immediate distribution

5 of all such frequencies, but, taking into account

6 the timetable recommended by the Secretary

7 pursuant to section 4(e), shall propose—

8 (i) gradually to distribute the fre9 quencies remaining, after making the res10 ervation required by subparagraph (ii),

11 over the course of a ten-year period begin12 ning on the date of submission of such

13 plan; and

14 (ii) to reserve a significant portion of

15 such frequencies for distribution beginning

16 after the end of such ten-year period;

17 (B) contain appropriate provisions to en18 sure—

19 (i) the availability of frequencies for

20 new technologies and services in accord21 ance with the policies of section 7 of the

22 Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 157); and

23 (ii) the availability of frequencies to

24 stimulate the development of such tech25 nologies; and
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1 (C) not prevent the Commission from allo2 cating bands of frequencies for specific uses in

3 future rulemaking proceedings.

4 (b) AMENDMENT TO THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT.—

5 Section 303 of the Communications Act is amended by

6 adding at the end thereof the following new subsection (u)

7 (indicating that the Commission shall):

8 ‘‘(u) Have authority to assign the frequencies reallo9 cated from United States Government use to non-United

10 States Government use pursuant to the Emerging Tele11 communications Technologies Act of 1993: Provided, That

12 any such assignment shall expressly be made subject to

13 the right of the President to reclaim such frequencies

14 under the provisions of section 7 of the Emerging Tele15 communications Technologies Act of 1993.’’.

16 SEC. 7. AUTHORITY TO RECLAIM REASSIGNED FRE17 QUENCIES.

18 (a) AUTHORITY OF PRESIDENT.—The President may

19 reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to United

20 States Government stations in accordance with this sec21 tion.

22 (b) PROCEDURE FOR RECLAIMING FREQUENCIES.—

23 (1) UNASSIGNED FREQUENCIES.—If the fre24 quencies to be reclaimed have not been assigned by

25 the Commission, the President may reclaim them
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1 based on the grounds described in section 5(b)(2) of

2 this Act.

3 (2) ASSIGNED FREQUENCIES.—If the fre4 quencies to be reclaimed have been assigned by the

5 Commission, the President may reclaim them based

6 on the grounds described in section 5(b)(2) of this

7 Act, except that the notification required by section

8 5(b)(1) shall include—

9 (A) a timetable to accommodate an orderly

10 transition for licensees to obtain new fre11 quencies and equipment necessary for their uti12 lization; and

13 (B) an estimate of the cost of displacing

14 the licensees.

15 (c) COSTS OF RECLAIMING FREQUENCIES.—Any

16 non-United States Government licensee that is displaced

17 from a frequency pursuant to this section shall be reim18 bursed the incremental costs it incurs that are directly at19 tributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant

20 to this section.

21 (d) EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—Nothing in this sec22 tion shall be construed to limit or otherwise affect the au23 thority of the President under section 706 of the Commu24 nications Act (47 U.S.C. 606).
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1 SEC. 8. COMPETITIVE BIDDING.

2 (a) COMPETITIVE BIDDING AUTHORIZED.—Section

3 309 of the Communications Act is amended to add a new

4 subsection (j) providing that:

5 ‘‘(j)(1) The Commission shall, subject to the exclu6 sions listed in paragraph (2) of this subsection, use com7 petitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses or new

8 construction permits, including licenses and permits for

9 spectrum reallocated for non-United States Government

10 use pursuant to the Emerging Telecommunications Tech11 nologies Act of 1993 in accordance with the following pro12 cedures:

13 ‘‘(A) The Commission shall require potential

14 bidders to file a first-stage application indicating an

15 intent to participate in the competitive bidding proc16 ess and containing such other information as the

17 Commission finds necessary. After conducting the

18 bidding, the Commission shall require the winning

19 bidder to submit a second-stage application. Upon

20 determining that such application is acceptable for

21 filing and that the applicant is qualified pursuant to

22 subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, the Commis23 sion shall grant a permit or license.

24 ‘‘(B) No construction permit or license shall be

25 granted to an applicant selected pursuant to sub26 paragraph (A) of this paragraph unless the Commis-
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1 sion determines that such applicant is qualified pur2 suant to section 308(b) and section 309(a) of the

3 Communications Act, on the basis of the information

4 contained in the first- and second-stage applications

5 submitted under subparagraph (A) of this para6 graph.

7 ‘‘(C) Each participant in the competitive bid8 ding process is subject to the schedule of changes

9 contained in section 8 of the Communications Act

10 (47 U.S.C. 158).

11 ‘‘(D) The Commission shall have the authority

12 in awarding construction permits or licenses under

13 competitive bidding procedures to (i) define the geo14 graphic and frequency limitations and technical re15 quirements, if any, of such permits or licenses; (ii)

16 establish minimum acceptable competitive bids; and

17 (iii) establish other appropriate conditions on such

18 permits and licenses that will serve the public

19 interest.

20 ‘‘(E) The Commission shall, within eighteen

21 months after enactment of the Emerging Tele22 communications Technologies Act of 1993, following

23 public notice and comment proceedings, adopt rules

24 establishing competitive bidding procedures under

25 this subsection, including the method of bidding and
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1 the basis for payment (such as flat fees, fixed or

2 variable royalties, combinations of flat fees and roy3 alties, or other reasonable forms of payment); and a

4 plan for applying such competitive bidding proce5 dures to the initial 30 MHz reallocated from United

6 States Government to non-United States Govern7 ment use under section 4(d)(1)(A) of the Emerging

8 Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1993, to be

9 distributed during the fiscal years 1996 through

10 1998.

11 ‘‘(F) The Commission shall take into particular

12 account the new technological benefits derived from

13 awarding construction permits or licenses under

14 competitive bidding procedures.

15 ‘‘(G) The Commission shall not exclude any

16 qualified applicant from bidding for initial licenses

17 or permits for spectrum under the competitive bid18 ding procedures authorized by this subsection. In de19 termining qualified applicants, the Commission shall

20 require an applicant to establish threshold technical

21 and financial commitment requirements to ensure

22 against speculative ventures.

23 ‘‘(2) Competitive bidding shall not apply to:

24 ‘‘(A) license renewals;
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1 ‘‘(B) the United States Government and State

2 or local government entities;

3 ‘‘(C) amateur operator services, public radio

4 broadcast services, public television broadcast serv5 ices, public safety services, and radio astronomy

6 services;

7 ‘‘(D) private radio end-user licenses, such as

8 Specialized Mobile Radio Service (SMRS), maritime,

9 and aeronautical end-user licenses;

10 ‘‘(E) any license grant to a non-United States

11 Government licensee being moved from its current

12 frequency assignment to a different one by the Com13 mission in order to implement the goals and objec14 tives underlying the Emerging Telecommunications

15 Technologies Act of 1993;

16 ‘‘(F) any other service, class of services, or as17 signments that the Commission determines, after

18 conducting public comment and notice proceedings,

19 should be exempt from competitive bidding because

20 of public interest factors warranting an exemption.’’.

21 (b) RANDOM SELECTION NOT TO APPLY WHEN

22 COMPETITIVE BIDDING REQUIRED.—Section 309(i)(1) of

23 the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 309) is amended by

24 inserting after ‘‘selection’’ the following: ‘‘, except in in-
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1 stances where competitive bidding procedures are required

2 under subsection (j) of this section’’.

3 (c) SPECTRUM ALLOCATION DECISIONS.—Section

4 303 of the Communications Act is amended to add a new

5 subsection (v):

6 ‘‘(v) In making spectrum allocation decisions among

7 services that are subject to competitive bidding, the Com8 mission is authorized to consider as one factor among oth9 ers taken into account in making its determination, the

10 relative economic values and other public interest benefits

11 of the proposed uses as reflected in the potential revenues

12 that would be collected under its competitive bidding pro13 cedures.’’.

14 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

15 As used in this Act—

16 (1) The term ‘‘allocation’’ means an entry in

17 the National Table of Frequency Allocations of a

18 given frequency band for the purpose of its use by

19 one or more radiocommunications services.

20 (2) The term ‘‘assignment’’ means an author21 ization given by the Commission or the United

22 States Government for a radio station to use a radio

23 frequency or radio frequency channel.

24 (3) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal

25 Communications Commission.
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1 (4) The term ‘‘Communications Act’’ means the

2 Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47

3 U.S.C. 151 et seq.).

4 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

5 of Commerce.

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