The $1.3 billion budget signed by President Trump Friday clears the way for the FCC to hold spectrum auctions as planned later this year.
Congressional leaders included provisions from two bipartisan bills in the omnibus spending package crafted to avert another government shutdown.
One bill, a package named Ray Baum’s Act in memory of a former House Energy and Commerce Committee staffer, reauthorizes the agency and allows it to deposit upfront payments from spectrum auction bidders with the U.S. Treasury.
The technical fix needed to be made by mid-May in order for the FCC to move ahead with an auction in the 28 GHz band in November and a subsequent auction in the 24 GHz band.
“Reauthorization helps our agency steer a path forward in our work on behalf of the American people, and I want to thank all of the elected officials whose leadership made this day possible,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement.
The budget also included parts of the Mobile Now Act, which aimed, in part, to make 500 MHz of spectrum available for mobile and fixed wireless broadband by 2020. The Senate unanimously passed that legislation last year.
“These measures will help stimulate billions of dollars in investment, create millions of new jobs and spur the deployment of new wireless networks,” said Meredith Attwell Baker, president and CEO of industry group CTIA.
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