II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1682 

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

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2017 

Mr. GARDNER (for himself and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

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.—The Commission, in 

7 consultation with the NTIA, shall— 

8 (1) not later than December 31, 2018, complete 

9 a system of competitive bidding to grant new li10 censes for the use of spectrum in frequencies be11 tween 3550 megahertz and 3650 megahertz; 

12 (2) not later than December 31, 2019, complete 

13 a system of competitive bidding for the use of spec14 trum in frequencies between— 

15 (A) 27500 megahertz and 28350 mega16 hertz, consistent with the spectrum sharing 

17 framework adopted for that frequency band as 

18 part of the Spectrum Frontiers proceeding; 

19 (B) 37000 megahertz and 38600 mega20 hertz; and 

21 (C) 38600 megahertz and 40000 mega22 hertz; and 

23 (3) not later than December 31, 2020, complete 

24 a system of competitive bidding for the use of spec25 trum in frequencies between— 


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1 (A) 24250 megahertz and 24450 mega2 hertz; 

3 (B) 25050 megahertz and 25250 mega4 hertz; 

5 (C) 31800 megahertz and 33400 mega6 hertz; 

7 (D) 42000 megahertz and 42500 mega8 hertz; 

9 (E) 47200 megahertz and 48200 mega10 hertz; and 

11 (F) 50400 megahertz and 52600 mega12 hertz. 

13 (b) IDENTIFYING FREQUENCIES BETWEEN 7125 

14 MEGAHERTZ AND 8400 MEGAHERTZ TO BE UTILIZED

15 FOR UNLICENSED PURPOSES.— 

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

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission, 

18 in consultation with the NTIA, shall identify any 

19 frequency between 7125 megahertz and 8400 mega20 hertz with respect to which there is the potential for 

21 unlicensed use without causing harmful interference 

22 with incumbents. 

23 (2) RULE MAKING.—If the Commission, in con24 sultation with the NTIA, makes an identification de25 scribed in paragraph (1), the Commission shall conVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Aug 15, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682

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1 sider initiating a rule making with respect to the un2 licensed use described in that paragraph. 

3 (c) REPORT ON REALLOCATION OF CERTAIN INCUM4 BENT FEDERAL STATIONS.— 

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

6 2020, the NTIA, in consultation with the Director 

7 of the Office of Management and Budget, shall sub8 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress a re9 port relating to the relocation of incumbent Federal 

10 stations authorized to use spectrum in the fre11 quencies between 1300 megahertz and 1350 mega12 hertz and between 1780 megahertz and 1830 mega13 hertz in order to facilitate the reallocation of such 

14 spectrum from Federal to non-Federal use. 

15 (2) TIMING.—The relocation described in para16 graph (1) with respect to the frequencies between 

17 1780 megahertz and 1830 megahertz shall take 

18 place not earlier than 2023. 

19 (d) AMENDMENTS TO THE SPECTRUM PIPELINE ACT

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

21 2015 (47 U.S.C. 921 note) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘30 mega23 hertz’’ and inserting ‘‘100 megahertz’’; and 

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

25 2024’’ and inserting ‘‘July 1, 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. MODERNIZING MID-BAND SPECTRUM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

3 (1) SPECTRUM IDENTIFICATION.—Not later 

4 than December 31, 2019, the Commission, in con5 sultation with the NTIA, shall identify 500 mega6 hertz of additional spectrum in the frequencies be7 tween 3700 megahertz and 4200 megahertz to make 

8 available for commercial licensed use. 

9 (2) SPECTRUM AUCTION.—Not later than De10 cember 31, 2022, the Commission shall complete a 

11 system of competitive bidding for the use of spec12 trum identified under paragraph (1). 

13 (b) RULE MAKING ON THE UNLICENSED USE OF

14 THE FREQUENCY BAND BETWEEN 5925 MEGAHERTZ

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

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission, in con17 sultation with the NTIA, shall issue a notice of proposed 

18 rule making with respect to creating opportunities for the 

19 unlicensed use of spectrum in the frequencies between 

20 5925 and 7125 megahertz without causing harmful inter21 ference with any incumbents in that band. 

22 SEC. 7. RURAL SET-ASIDE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

24 309(j)(8) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

25 309(j)(8)), the Commission shall allocate 10 percent of the 

26 proceeds from each system of competitive bidding conVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Aug 15, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682

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1 ducted under this Act for the deployment of wireless infra2 structure in areas that the Commission has determined 

3 are underserved or unserved with respect to wireless 

4 broadband Internet access service. 

5 (b) LIMITATIONS.—No amounts allocated under sub6 section (a) may be combined with amounts that are used 

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

8 on which the allocation is made, including any program 

9 established under section 254 of the Communications Act 

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

11 SEC. 8. SPECIAL RULES. 

12 With respect to any frequency band described in this 

13 Act, if the relocation of an incumbent from that frequency 

14 band to another equivalent frequency band (referred to in 

15 this section as the ‘‘destination band’’) is not possible, and 

16 if the Commission determines that no mitigation tech17 nology, alternative sharing approach, or incentives-based 

18 approach would reliably prevent harmful interference to 

19 licensees, the Commission— 

20 (1) shall provide notification of that determina21 tion to the appropriate committees of Congress and 

22 the NTIA; and 

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

24 relocating incumbents from the destination band or 

25 permitting new entrants into the destination band, 


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1 that may result in the dislodging or harming of any 

2 incumbent in the destination band until the Commis3 sion can ensure that any such action will neither 

4 cause harmful interference with nor unreasonably 

5 constrain an incumbent in the destination band. 

6 SEC. 9. COMMISSION STUDY ON ENHANCING THE BENEFITS 

7 OF UNLICENSED SPECTRUM FOR RURAL 

8 COMMUNITIES. 

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

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall con11 duct, and submit to the appropriate committees of Con12 gress the results of, a study regarding how unlicensed 

13 spectrum can be further utilized to assist in— 

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

15 (2) distance learning; and 

16 (3) facilitating innovations in agriculture. 

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

18 submitted under subsection (a) shall include recommenda19 tions regarding— 

20 (1) overcoming barriers to the use of unlicensed 

21 spectrum for the purposes described in that sub22 section; and 

23 (2) how to further utilize unlicensed spectrum 

24 to meet the needs of rural communities with respect 

25 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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