Senate Republicans are using President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” to establish a robust pipeline of wireless spectrum, an obscure but critical part of U.S. efforts to meet consumer demand and compete with China on 6G networks and artificial intelligence.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican and chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, wrote provisions for the legislation that would reauthorize the Federal Communications Commission to auction off unused spectrum.
The bill text also establishes a pipeline to ensure adequate spectrum, which refers to the invisible frequency bands that serve as a highway for wireless communications.
Spectrum is needed for a smartwatch to communicate with a phone or for someone to hail an Uber from the street. The military needs it to coordinate its operations.
It’s a finite resource, so the government must manage spectrum fairly and make more of it available for commercial use to avoid traffic jams on the wireless highway.
Mr. Cruz said the committee’s provisions, if passed into law, would “positively impact Americans now and for generations to come.”
“These provisions fulfill the mandate given to President Trump and congressional Republicans by the voters: to unleash America’s full economic potential and keep her safe from enemies,” he added.
Spectrum auctions prescribed in the bill are projected to raise $85 billion for the Treasury. Big wireless carriers tend to be the biggest payers at auction.
Mr. Cruz’s efforts are eliciting kudos from Mr. Trump and criticism from Democrats, who say the GOP is hastily auctioning off spectrum to raise money for tax breaks for the wealthy.
Spectrum frequencies have a range of bands for different purposes, including low-band frequencies that can travel long distances with minimal disruption and form the backbone of wireless networks.
High-band spectrum travels shorter distances but offers fast speeds and high capacity, while midband spectrum offers a mix of features and is often in high demand.
The Senate GOP legislation would put 800 MHz of unused and underused spectrum into the private economy, “unleashing billions in investment and thousands of new jobs,” according to a summary from Mr. Cruz’s committee.
Republicans are using a budget maneuver, known as reconciliation, to try to pass the legislation on a majority vote in the Senate and avoid a Democratic filibuster.
Much of the debate around the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has centered on its tax cuts, cuts to ward off Medicaid fraud and its impact on the budget deficit. The spectrum provisions aren’t as well-publicized but could have a big impact.
Brendan Carr, the Republican chairman of the FCC, told congressional lawmakers in March that the agency held 100 auctions in recent decades, raising more than $233 billion for Treasury coffers, before its auction authority lapsed in 2023 due to a logjam in Congress over an extension.
“Biden did nothing on Spectrum in four years but, thanks to ’THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL,’ my Administration will beat all expectations, and show the World the path forward!” Mr. Trump posted June 6 on Truth Social.
Mr. Trump, whose family company recently launched its own mobile phone service, wants Republicans to pass the big bill by July Fourth.
One former FCC official told The Washington Times a consensus exists that putting more spectrum in commercial hands would benefit consumers, who would see better connectivity.
There is also a need to meet rising demand for wireless networks, particularly in rural areas, and as new satellites come online.
Yet Democrats say the GOP’s approach to spectrum is misguided.
Some Democrats argue the administration wants to use spectrum auctions to raise revenue and free up budget space for tax cuts that largely benefit the rich, rather than using the money to fund vital programs.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Commerce Committee, warned that previous auctions resulted in interference with aviation communications. She said the spectrum bands poised for sale are adjacent to bands that aircraft radio altimeters use.
Also, she contended that auctioning off spectrum could interfere with military operations.
“Make no mistake, on today’s battlefield, if we lose the spectrum war, we lose the war,” Ms. Cantwell, of Washington, wrote in May to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “However, some in Congress now want to disrupt this work by auctioning off strategic portions of spectrum — resources currently in use by our military — to the highest bidder. This would be a grave error, placing short-term corporate gain ahead of our nation’s long-term security.”
Mr. Cruz drafted national security carve-outs by limiting potentially available spectrum to certain frequency bands — a compromise needed to satisfy military hawks in his party who shared concerns about interfering with the Defense Department.
Mr. Trump insists the U.S. can connect Americans to fast networks while “keeping everyone safe.”
“We can do both at the same time. Bottom line, I am going to free up plenty of SPECTRUM for auction,’” he wrote on Truth Social.
The Senate bill text calls on the FCC to free up 300 MHZ for commercial auctions and directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which manages federal use of spectrum, to identify 500 MHZ of spectrum that could be directed to commercial use.
The Cruz language goes beyond the 600 MHZ that was approved in the House version of the Big Beautiful Bill.
Industry players are lining up behind Mr. Cruz’s proposal.
5G Americas, a trade organization for telecommunication companies, said the provisions would ensure the efficient allocation of spectrum for “surging” consumer and industry demand.
“For years, the lapse in FCC spectrum auction authority and the absence of a clear spectrum pipeline have hindered our workforce and delayed deployment of next-generation internet infrastructure,” said Todd Schlekeway, the CEO of NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association.
Mr. Carr is among the biggest cheerleaders of the effort.
He said failure to free up spectrum would hamper American innovation and let Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE dominate the development of “vital, next-generation services.”
Freeing up spectrum “will create jobs, encourage innovation and expand high-speed connections to more Americans,” Mr. Carr wrote in a letter to congressional leaders. “Getting this done will be a great win for the country and advances President Trump’s goal of ensuring that the U.S. leads the world in wireless.”
