House gets into spectrum act

At a time when the FCC, the White House and the Senate are debating the upcoming spectrum auction, two members of the House introduced the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act.

Representatives Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Doris Matsui (R-CA) of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee introduced the measure which, according to the committee, would create “a new path for government spectrum users to relinquish spectrum and receive a portion of net auction revenues instead of relocation costs.” As of the close of the 2012 session, the committee approved the bill, but it must still pass the full House and clear the Senate before becoming law.

Guthrie and Matsui are co-chairs of the subcommittee’s bipartisan Federal Spectrum Working Group.

Matsui, in a statement, said:

“As the single largest spectrum user in the country, the United States government must be more efficient in managing our spectrum. By providing financial incentives for the first time, this bipartisan legislation will serve as a model to encourage the government to reallocate non-critical spectrum for commercial purposes.”

Walden Announces Bipartisan Agreements on FCC Process Reform and Legislation to Improve Federal Spectrum Use (Energy & Commerce Committee news release, Dec. 9, 2013)

House bill aims to boost government spectrum sales (The Hill, Dec. 9, 2013)