On November 13, 2023, President Biden issued a Memorandum on Modernizing United States Spectrum Policy and Establishing a National Spectrum Strategy (Memorandum). The Memorandum seeks to promote efficient and effective spectrum use by ensuring spectrum management, usage, and allocation decisions are coordinated, consistent, and reflect the needs and diverse missions of agencies and non-federal users. The Memorandum also directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to develop a National Spectrum Strategy, which was also released on November 13, 2023.
According to a Fact Sheet issued by the White House, the National Spectrum Strategy is comprised of four Pillars. The first Pillar strives to repurpose nearly 3,000 megahertz of spectrum for a wide range of uses, which include the provision of wireless broadband services. The second Pillar aims to establish collaborative long-term framework and planning efforts to support the U.S.’s evolving spectrum needs. The third Pillar seeks to increase access and management to spectrum through technology development, such as the establishment of research and development plans in the federal and private sector and the use of test beds. The fourth Pillar looks to expand the spectrum workforce to fill a wide range of operational, technical, and policy roles into the future.
USET SPF submitted comments to NTIA on April 17, 2023 in response to its Request for Comments to develop a National Spectrum Strategy. One major recommendation we advocated for was a Tribal Nation National Spectrum Strategy to fully identify and capture priorities for spectrum access specifically on Tribal Lands. Although this recommendation was not accepted, Tribal Nations are, however, mentioned and included in every Pillar of the National Spectrum Strategy. This means that we expect Tribal Nations to be included in many of the spectrum management, access, and workforce development initiatives moving forward, including several efforts to expand spectrum access for broadband deployment on Tribal Lands.
For more information, please contact Brian Howard, USET SPF Senior Policy Analyst, at bhoward@usetinc.org.
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