We increasingly rely on our mobile devices to access necessary services like telehealth or calling 911 and even use them to accomplish everyday tasks like ordering groceries or sending emails. We can do almost anything with a few swipes on our mobile devices. Unlike 20 years ago, we are no longer tethered to a fiber cable. Like our favorite marionette Pinocchio, “there are no strings on (us).”
We crave mobility in our internet experience. A Pew study showed that 97 percent of Americans own mobile devices, such as a smartphone, laptop or tablet. Americans overwhelmingly get their news from digital services from their mobile devices over laptops and desktops. Indeed, Google analytics shows that only 35.7 percent of Americans use a desktop to access websites. And Cisco forecasts that the number of connected devices will be three times the global population by next year.
But can our networks handle the tsunami of new devices coming online? If they are going to, we need to give providers every tool and resource necessary to manage the coming groundswell. Securing our mobile future is (or should be) a national priority.
So it is alarming that Congress hasn’t passed the bipartisan Spectrum Innovation Act, which passed the House in a voice vote in July. That act would extend the auction authority of the Federal Communications Commission through March 2024 and raise billions of dollars to improve our mobile infrastructure — all without costing taxpayers a dime.
Instead, Congress has kicked the issue to the lame-duck session, extending auction authority for only two-and-a-half months. That could be a huge problem because spectrum auctions are our most effective tool in expeditiously getting licensed spectrum into the marketplace. Licensed spectrum is what makes your mobile device … well, mobile. Put another way, if your mobile device were a car, then spectrum is the fuel to make it work.
Auctions played an essential role in providing fuel for our 5G networks. They got them up and running in just three short years (blowing past our international rivals). If we’re going to win the race for 5G (and 6G in the not-too-distant future), we need auctions. Without them, the FCC would have to rely on an inefficient lottery system that takes decades to open up more spectrum bands — and raises no funding for infrastructure to boot.
What is more, the act starts refilling the spectrum pipeline. In truth, we have nearly exhausted the spectrum that Congress has previously allocated. But federal agencies sit on almost 60 percent of all useful spectrum for wireless networks, and they’ve been doing so for years. Unsurprisingly, bureaucrats are not at all keen on letting go of that spectrum or even sharing it with the American public.
The act tackles the issue head-on, opening more government-operated spectrum to private users and providing a framework to ensure that affected government operators won’t be harmed. Frankly, the FCC, wireless operators and the agencies operating in those spectrum bands are going to have to work together if they are going to refill the spectrum pipeline, and the act puts us on the path to doing just that.
Think of it this way: Denying the FCC auction authority and a spectrum pipeline is a bit like asking a runner to race with a broken leg — China would win the race before the starting whistle is even blown. We don’t have time to waste with China rapidly building its wireless networks.
Not only would the act allow us to outrun China but it will also help keep Chinese equipment out of American networks. Some auction proceeds will go into a Public Safety and Secure Networks Fund that reimburses wireless providers to replace equipment that poses a national security risk. This is a critical measure to ensure that Chinese equipment is completely removed from our networks.
That’s not the only security provided by the act. It will also fund the upgrade of our 911 capabilities to meet tomorrow’s mobile demand by making them more interoperable with internet-based systems. This is a welcome measure as there are 240 million 911 emergency calls each year, and at least 80 percent of those calls were made by callers using wireless devices.
When securing our digital future, we need Congress to step on the gas, not pump the breaks. Let’s win the race to 5G, get a head start on 6G, upgrade 911, and keep Chinese equipment out of our networks. Passing the Spectrum Innovation Act is the rare win-win-win-win in Washington — it would do all four.