House Committee Approves Incentive Auction Plan for Government Agencies

By Doug Lung
published

U.S. government agencies and the Department of Defense have a large amount of spectrum below 6 GHz and Congress is looking at reallocating some of it for wireless broadband or unlicensed services. On Wednesday the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee approved a plan that calls for government spectrum users to give up some of this real estate through auctions.

The plan is contained in the H.R. 3674 bill, the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act, which was authored by Representatives Brett Guthrie and Doris Matsui and creates a path for relinquishing spectrum through incentive auctions. (In this plan, government entities giving up spectrum would receive a portion of net auction revenues instead of relocation costs.)

Guthrie said, “I appreciate the committee’s swift action on this bill. H.R. 3674 is essential to encourage additional spectrum, a vital component for the advancement of American innovation, to be made available for commercial use. It is encouraging to see a focus placed on this legislation and the underlying spectrum shortage.”

For additional information, see H.R. 3674, the Federal Spectrum Incentive Act and the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee Web page.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.