Gardner Predicts Wireless Innovation Act 'Stepping Stone' for Broader Spectrum Bill

“I think that the Wireless Innovation Act will sort of be the stepping stone for a broader spectrum bill,” said Gardner, an original co-sponsor of the legislation and member of the Commerce Committee. “It will be the base but not basis for a spectrum bill, and I think that’s what you’ll start hearing as the next phase of hearings get[s] rolled out.” The specific bill will “be a big focus of the conversation,” Gardner predicted.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced the Wireless Innovation Act in June. The bill, lauded by the wireless industry, combines two previous proposals of his from last Congress. Last year, Rubio introduced one bill without any co-sponsors focused on forcing NTIA to reallocate 200 MHz of spectrum below 5 GHz. Rubio was geared up to introduce a second proposal in December with Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., on easing wireless siting requirements on federal land, but that never happened (see 1412110036). The Wireless Innovation Act from June encompasses both reallocation and siting provisions and includes five GOP co-sponsors on the Commerce Committee -- Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Communications Subcommittee; Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Gardner; and Ron Johnson, R-Wis. The next Commerce spectrum hearing will focus on broader policy issues rather than any one legislative proposal, a Senate aide has said.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai sees virtues in the Wireless Innovation Act, he told us.

“There are ways for Congress to move the ball,” Pai said. “One example is spectrum. Senator Gardner, Senator Rubio and others have been pursuing legislation that would free up more spectrum for the commercial marketplace to use. That would be tremendously helpful because after the incentive auction happens this coming spring, the pipeline seems to be running a bit dry.”

Gardner acknowledged the lack of Democrats supporting the Wireless Innovation Act currently but said that any attention on the legislation going forward will involve attracting such backing. New versions of spectrum legislation are believed to be coming together now behind the scenes. “It’s something we need to have bipartisan support for,” Gardner told us of Commerce’s latest spectrum legislation effort. “Obviously those conversations are important and will be a part of any renewed focus on this bill. And I don’t know why there aren’t any [Democrats] on it now. Maybe it’s concern about 'President Rubio' and that’s why they didn’t want to get on it yet.”

Rubio is seeking the Republican nomination in the 2016 White House race, and campaigning has kept him absent from Capitol Hill on many days in recent months. He did not attend the July Commerce hearing on spectrum.

“As always, Senator Rubio hopes many components of his bill will be included in the broader legislation," a spokeswoman for Rubio told us Monday. "By reallocating spectrum used by the federal government for commercial wireless services, as outlined in the Wireless Innovation Act, we can increase wireless coverage and capacity for 21st century technologies. More importantly, this bill will promote economic growth and innovation so that the U.S. can continue leading the wireless industry. At this time, we are continuing to discuss the economic benefits of this policy and our priorities with committee members."

Pai has, in recent days, heard from telecom industry stakeholders concerned about issues addressed by the Wireless Innovation Act. Pai has participated in many events in the states, such as a broadband roundtable with Gardner in Denver and a tech conference in Montana with Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and on Tuesday he will meet with Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., in Fargo, North Dakota, for roundtables, meetings and a tour of a broadcast building. “Commissioner Pai is known as one of the most accessible regulators in Washington,” Cramer said in a statement Monday.

Pai mentioned interest from people regarding his ideas on “streamlining some of the federal processes for permitting in terms of siting wireless infrastructure on federal land” and “getting more 5 GHz spectrum out there so that wireless ISPs in particular can provide connectivity in areas where fiber deployment is difficult if not impossible.” The Wireless Innovation Act would address the siting issues, and Rubio’s Wi-Fi Innovation Act (S-424) would press the federal government to look at the sharing possibilities in the upper 5 GHz band. “Something like 93 percent of Nevada, for example, is federal land,” Pai told us. “I’ve heard it’s often difficult for [carriers] to site wireless infrastructure because of that. There’s a great interest in terms of getting the federal government to modernize its regulation to make deployment easier.” House lawmakers also outlined concerns about siting issues during a summer hearing and are expected to continue this scrutiny in the fall.

Bipartisan groups of House members and senators recently pressed government officials to test the upper 5 GHz band and sought to do so without advancing legislation (see 1509100064). “Congress has gotten involved recently in trying to urge the Department of Transportation and others to move that proceeding forward in order to get the next generation of Wi-Fi online in a broader way,” Pai said of those efforts. “That would be very helpful.”

“We have met with a number of people who are concerned about spectrum ability and continued availability,” Gardner recounted of his discussions in Denver over the weekend. He anticipates “renewed focus” on the Wireless Innovation Act to “push and further that idea," he said.