Guthrie Introduces SMART Spectrum Act

Statement

Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) today introduced the Simplifying Management, Reallocation, and Transfer of Spectrum Act, or SMART Spectrum Act.

The SMART Spectrum Act would create an information sharing capability at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to allow more commercial use of spectrum licensed for federal government use.

"The United States needs to be smart with how we manage our spectrum because it is vital to national security, everyday communications, and innovative technologies like 5G. I introduced the SMART Spectrum Act to improve the allocation and management of spectrum between federal users, such as the Department of Defense, and non-federal users, such as telecommunications providers, by creating a standardized information sharing capability to make more underutilized federal spectrum available for commercial use. This will help prevent interference and strengthen this important resource as our country develops cutting-edge technologies and deploys 5G," said Guthrie.

The federal government is currently not fully utilizing all of the spectrum licenses that are allocated for federal use. The SMART Spectrum Act would make an information sharing capability at the NTIA to facilitate users as they operate within a band of spectrum. Federal and non-federal users would share spectrum allocated for federal government use based on what time, where geographically, and in which band of electromagnetic spectrum these users are operating. This would mitigate harmful interference and ensure reliability for users. Making more spectrum available to non-federal users is important as 5G and other wireless technologies are being deployed in the United States.

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