Greg Walden (R-OR) is putting hearing on the schedule of the House Communications Subcommittee that will look into putting federally-held spectrum in the hands of private wireless companies.
“Following a series of highly informative Federal Spectrum Working Group meetings, we have decided to move forward with a subcommittee hearing in September,” said Chairman Walden. “The subcommittee will continue to examine how both federal agencies and commercial wireless carriers might benefit from more efficient government use of spectrum. As the single largest spectrum user, the federal government could save taxpayers money and make more frequencies available to meet American consumers’ growing demand for mobile broadband services.”
The Working Group Walden referred to is a bipartisan committee charged with opening up spectrum, under the co-chairmanship of Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Doris Matsui (D-CA).
RBR-TVBR observation: Presumbably, the more spectrum that can be found for wireless broadband will lessen the pressure for spectrum in the broadcast television band. But don’t count on it – the TV band is known throughout the industry as beachfront property, so the pressure will likely continue unabated, no matter how much spectrum wireless companies find elsewhere.
