Strategic Objective 1: Establish a Persistent Strategic Spectrum Planning Process Guided By The Best Available Science and Data
Developing a National Spectrum Strategy
Several advisory groups have been established to provide input to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information on a broad range of spectrum issues. These include two Federal-only entities—the Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee and the Spectrum Advisory Council, which replaces the Policy and Plans Steering Group—as well as a non-Federal committee, the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee. Additionally, NTIA and the FCC have formalized their cooperative relationship and ongoing coordination through a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated August 1, 2022, “to ensure improved and effective communications between the agencies, to emphasize the importance of evidence-based spectrum policymaking and reliance on data, analyses, and engineering best practices, and to promote effective, long-range planning by both agencies, taking into account the implications of spectrum policy and strategy.” This Strategy acknowledges and reaffirms the independent statutory responsibilities of the FCC and NTIA as the U.S. spectrum regulating agencies and the continuing operation of the processes established in the MOU.
NTIA and the FCC have taken similar steps to include the U.S. Department of the Interior, entering a separate MOU dated November 23, 2022, that ensures communication and planning in coordinating policies and developing initiatives to encourage the participation of Tribal Nations and the Native Hawaiian community. This expands spectrum access and promotes the deployment, coordination, and development of broadband and other wireless communications services on Tribal lands and Hawaiian homelands.
The existing advisory structures and interagency coordination mechanisms (Federal and non-Federal, including state, local, and Tribal governments) provide valuable input; however, they operate independently from each other. The United States needs a process for bringing all stakeholders together for advanced planning, so they can generate recommendations earlier, based on the combined knowledge and perspectives of both the Federal Government and the private sector.
The U.S. Government will develop an architecture for a new collaborative framework that leverages these existing advisory groups, identifies new groups that would aid long-term planning, and defines the interactions among them, including roles and responsibilities and desired outputs. The U.S. Government will adhere to existing interagency MOUs and will engage all stakeholders, including unserved and historically underserved populations, Tribal Nations, and the Native Hawaiian community, in this new collaborative process. The collaborative framework, once implemented, will give stakeholders the opportunity to share their perspectives on future spectrum policies that could affect them and engage early and often in national-level spectrum planning. This framework will also build on existing efforts, in which the U.S. spectrum regulating agencies have increased their participation in cross-agency advisory groups as a means of fostering proactive technical exchange and engagement with industry and other Federal agencies.
"America's security, safety, technological leadership, and economic growth depend, in no small measure, on sufficient access to spectrum"
Thus, the U.S. Government will establish a national spectrum planning process that better incorporates future, as well as near- and mid-term, spectrum needs into the decision-making process. The goal is to expand opportunities for spectrum access and harmonious coexistence, by whatever licensing or allocation mechanism, for all sectors (e.g., terrestrial, satellite, in-space, launch, aviation, public safety, scientific research, Federal missions). Changes to spectrum allocations and other major spectrum decisions require sufficient lead-time for proper planning and implementation. This process will be informed by long-standing legal responsibilities and, if necessary, technical, scientific, mission, and economic analyses will be peer reviewed.
The U.S. Government will work within the collaborative framework to determine the key elements needed to plan spectrum allocations that will position our country to meet the nation’s spectrum needs and maintain its place as a global technology leader. This includes implementing an ongoing process for solicitation of new and future spectrum requirements. Users will articulate their future needs through an agreed to, standardized description of requirements, accompanied with supporting data, to ensure they are considered as part of the envisioned long-term planning process. Regularly assessing and optimizing spectrum allocations to address evolving Federal and non-Federal user requirements will help ensure spectrum utilization is providing the greatest benefits to the American people, especially those in rural and Tribal communities.
To ensure the on-going health of U.S. spectrum policy, the Administration—with input gathered through this new collaborative framework—will regularly update the nation’s spectrum strategy. Updates will be initiated as required, recognizing that a formally documented U.S. spectrum policy promotes a symbiotic relationship between domestic and U.S. international technical and policy work in which the United States participates to support a better coordinated approach (where possible, and without limiting flexibility in either venue).