I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4953 

To facilitate a national pipeline of spectrum for commercial use, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2018 

Mr. LANCE (for himself, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. 

BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. WELCH, Mr. GUTHRIE, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. 

WALBERG, and Ms. CLARKE of New York) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To facilitate a national pipeline of spectrum for commercial 

use, 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 ‘‘Advancing Innovation 

5 and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electro6 magnetic Spectrum Act’’ or the ‘‘AIRWAVES Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

9 should strive to— 


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1 (1) advance innovation with respect to, and in2 vestment in, wireless broadband Internet access; 

3 (2) promote the benefits of connecting all indi4 viduals in the United States to quality wireless 

5 broadband Internet access, including those individ6 uals in rural communities; and 

7 (3) support comprehensive, technology-neutral 

8 spectrum policy that includes licensed, unlicensed, 

9 and shared use of spectrum bands. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act— 

12 (1) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con13 gress’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

15 and Transportation of the Senate; 

16 (B) the Committee on Energy and Com17 merce of the House of Representatives; and 

18 (C) any other congressional committee 

19 with jurisdiction over a matter; 

20 (2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

21 Communications Commission; 

22 (3) the term ‘‘eligible Federal entity’’ means an 

23 entity described in section 113(g)(1) of the National 

24 Telecommunications and Information Administration 

25 Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(1)); 


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1 (4) the term ‘‘eligible frequency’’ means a fre2 quency with respect to which the costs incurred by 

3 an eligible Federal entity in relocating from the fre4 quency may be reimbursed from the Spectrum Relo5 cation Fund; 

6 (5) the term ‘‘Federal entity’’ has the meaning 

7 given the term in section 113(l) of the National 

8 Telecommunications and Information Administration 

9 Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(l)); 

10 (6) the term ‘‘NTIA’’ means the National Tele11 communications and Information Administration; 

12 (7) the term ‘‘Spectrum Frontiers proceeding’’ 

13 means the Report and Order and Further Notice of 

14 Proposed Rulemaking in the matter of Use of Spec15 trum Bands Above 24 GHz for Mobile Radio Serv16 ices, adopted by the Commission on July 14, 2016 

17 (FCC 16–89); 

18 (8) the term ‘‘Spectrum Relocation Fund’’ 

19 means the fund established under section 118 of the 

20 National Telecommunications and Information Ad21 ministration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 928); and 

22 (9) the term ‘‘system of competitive bidding’’ 

23 means a system of competitive bidding conducted 

24 under section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 

25 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)). 


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1 SEC. 4. SPECTRUM FRONTIERS PROCEEDING. 

2 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Commission shall complete the rule mak4 ing to which the Spectrum Frontiers proceeding relates. 

5 SEC. 5. EXPANDING ACCESS TO COMMERCIAL SPECTRUM. 

6 (a) FCC RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in con8 sultation with the NTIA, shall— 

9 (A) not later than December 31, 2018, 

10 complete a system of competitive bidding to 

11 grant priority access licenses for the use of 70 

12 megahertz of spectrum in the frequencies be13 tween 3550 megahertz and 3650 megahertz; 

14 (B) not later than December 31, 2018, 

15 complete a system of competitive bidding for 

16 the use of spectrum in frequencies between— 

17 (i) 24250 megahertz and 24450 

18 megahertz; 

19 (ii) 24750 megahertz and 25250 

20 megahertz; 

21 (iii) 27500 megahertz and 28350 

22 megahertz, consistent with the spectrum 

23 sharing framework adopted for that fre24 quency band as part of the Spectrum 

25 Frontiers proceeding; 


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1 (iv) 37600 megahertz and 38600 

2 megahertz; 

3 (v) 38600 megahertz and 40000 

4 megahertz; and 

5 (vi) 47200 megahertz and 48200 

6 megahertz; and 

7 (C) not later than December 31, 2020, 

8 complete a system of competitive bidding for 

9 the use of spectrum in frequencies between— 

10 (i) 31800 megahertz and 33400 

11 megahertz; 

12 (ii) 42000 megahertz and 42500 

13 megahertz; and 

14 (iii) 50400 megahertz and 52600 

15 megahertz. 

16 (2) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO 3550–3700

17 MHZ BAND.—Consistent with the Commission’s rules 

18 governing the Citizens Broadband Radio Service and 

19 the Report and Order and Second Further Notice of 

20 Proposed Rulemaking in the matter of Amendment 

21 of the Commission’s Rules with Regard to Commer22 cial Operations in the 3550–3650 MHz Band, 

23 adopted by the Commission on April 17, 2015 (FCC 

24 15–47)— 


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1 (A) 30 megahertz of spectrum in the fre2 quencies between 3550 megahertz and 3650 

3 megahertz shall be reserved for general author4 ized access use; and 

5 (B) the frequencies between 3650 mega6 hertz and 3700 megahertz shall be reserved for 

7 grandfathered wireless broadband licensees and 

8 general authorized access users. 

9 (b) IDENTIFYING FREQUENCIES BETWEEN 7125 

10 MEGAHERTZ AND 8400 MEGAHERTZ TO BE UTILIZED

11 FOR UNLICENSED PURPOSES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the NTIA, in con14 sultation with the Commission, shall identify any 

15 frequency between 7125 megahertz and 8400 mega16 hertz with respect to which there is the potential for 

17 unlicensed use without causing harmful interference 

18 with incumbents. 

19 (2) RULE MAKING.—If the NTIA, in consulta20 tion with the Commission, makes an identification 

21 described in paragraph (1), the Commission shall 

22 consider initiating a rule making with respect to the 

23 unlicensed use described in that paragraph. 

24 (c) REPORT ON REALLOCATION OF CERTAIN INCUM25 BENT FEDERAL STATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31, 

2 2020, the NTIA, in consultation with the Director 

3 of the Office of Management and Budget, shall sub4 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress a re5 port relating to the relocation of incumbent Federal 

6 stations authorized to use spectrum in the fre7 quencies between 1300 megahertz and 1350 mega8 hertz and between 1780 megahertz and 1830 mega9 hertz in order to facilitate the reallocation of such 

10 spectrum from Federal to non-Federal use. 

11 (2) TIMING.—The relocation described in para12 graph (1) with respect to the frequencies between 

13 1780 megahertz and 1830 megahertz shall take 

14 place not earlier than 2023. 

15 (d) AMENDMENTS TO THE SPECTRUM PIPELINE ACT

16 OF 2015.—Section 1004 of the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 

17 2015 (47 U.S.C. 921 note) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘30 mega19 hertz’’ and inserting ‘‘100 megahertz’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking ‘‘July 1, 

21 2024’’ and inserting ‘‘July 1, 2023’’. 

22 SEC. 6. MODERNIZING MID-BAND SPECTRUM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

24 (1) SPECTRUM IDENTIFICATION.—Not later 

25 than December 31, 2019, the Commission, in conVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Feb 09, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4953.IH H4953

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1 sultation with the NTIA, shall identify up to 500 

2 megahertz of additional spectrum in the frequencies 

3 between 3700 megahertz and 4200 megahertz to 

4 make available for commercial licensed use. 

5 (2) SPECTRUM AUCTION.—Not later than De6 cember 31, 2022, the Commission shall complete a 

7 system of competitive bidding for the use of spec8 trum identified under paragraph (1). 

9 (b) RULE MAKING ON THE UNLICENSED USE OF

10 THE FREQUENCY BAND BETWEEN 5925 MEGAHERTZ

11 AND 7125 MEGAHERTZ.—Not later than 180 days after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission, in con13 sultation with the NTIA, shall issue a notice of proposed 

14 rule making with respect to creating opportunities for the 

15 unlicensed use of spectrum in the frequencies between 

16 5925 and 7125 megahertz without causing harmful inter17 ference with any incumbents in that band. 

18 SEC. 7. RURAL SET-ASIDE. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

20 309(j)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

21 309(j)(8)), the Commission shall allocate 10 percent of the 

22 proceeds from each system of competitive bidding con23 ducted under this Act for the deployment of wireless infra24 structure in areas that the Commission has determined 


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1 are underserved or unserved with respect to wireless 

2 broadband Internet access service. 

3 (b) LIMITATIONS.—No amounts allocated under sub4 section (a) may be combined with amounts that are used 

5 to fund any other program that is in existence on the date 

6 on which the allocation is made, including any program 

7 established under section 254 of the Communications Act 

8 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254). 

9 SEC. 8. SPECIAL RULES. 

10 With respect to any frequency band described in this 

11 Act (in this section referred to as the ‘‘covered band’’), 

12 if the relocation of an incumbent from the covered band 

13 to another equivalent frequency band is not possible, and 

14 if the Commission determines that no mitigation tech15 nology, alternative sharing approach, or incentives-based 

16 approach would reliably prevent harmful interference to 

17 incumbents in the covered band, the Commission— 

18 (1) shall provide notification of that determina19 tion to the appropriate committees of Congress and 

20 the NTIA; and 

21 (2) may not proceed with any action, including 

22 relocating incumbents from the covered band or per23 mitting new entrants into the covered band, that 

24 may result in the dislodging or harming of any in25 cumbent in the covered band until the Commission 


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1 can ensure that any such action will neither cause 

2 harmful interference with nor unreasonably con3 strain an incumbent in the covered band. 

4 SEC. 9. COMMISSION STUDY ON ENHANCING THE BENEFITS 

5 OF UNLICENSED SPECTRUM FOR RURAL 

6 COMMUNITIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall con9 duct, and submit to the appropriate committees of Con10 gress the results of, a study regarding how unlicensed 

11 spectrum can be further utilized to assist in— 

12 (1) the provision of healthcare in rural areas; 

13 (2) distance learning; and 

14 (3) facilitating innovations in agriculture. 

15 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The results of the study 

16 submitted under subsection (a) shall include recommenda17 tions regarding— 

18 (1) overcoming barriers to the use of unlicensed 

19 spectrum for the purposes described in that sub20 section; and 

21 (2) how to further utilize unlicensed spectrum 

22 to meet the needs of rural communities with respect 

23 to broadband Internet access service. 


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1 SEC. 10. GAO STUDY ON SPECTRUM RELOCATION FUND AL2 LOCATIONS. 

3 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

5 shall conduct, and submit to the appropriate committees 

6 of Congress the results of, a study to determine the effi7 ciency with which amounts in the Spectrum Relocation 

8 Fund are transferred to eligible Federal entities that will9 ingly relocate from eligible frequencies. 

10 SEC. 11. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

11 (a) FREQUENCY RANGES.—Any frequency range de12 scribed in this Act shall be construed as including the 

13 upper and lower frequency in the frequency range. 

14 (b) ASSESSMENT OF ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

15 REALLOCATION.—Nothing in this Act may be construed 

16 as affecting any requirement under section 156 of the Na17 tional Telecommunications and Information Administra18 tion Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 921 note). 

Æ 


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