Spectrum Management

At NTIA and the Department of Commerce, we are focused on expanding the use of broadband and spectrum, strengthening the nation’s cybersecurity defenses, improving public safety communications, and helping American workers and businesses compete in the 21st century.

President Biden’s budget for the 2022 fiscal year, released on Friday, is designed to support these goals. The President’s budget calls for increased investments to better secure the telecommunications supply chain, expand high-speed broadband access and adoption, and increase advanced wireless research to power future generations of technology.

The overall FY 2022 budget request for NTIA is $89.5 million, which covers 189 positions.

Securing the Supply Chain

The President’s budget asks for a total of $15.6 million for NTIA’s domestic and international policy programs, which work to preserve a free and open Internet that can serve as an engine for economic growth.

The request includes an additional $4 million to allow NTIA to contribute to securing the information and communications technology and services (ICTS) supply chain. The ICTS supply chain, which is relied on by U.S. businesses and government at all levels, is critical to every aspect of America's national and economic security.

As consumer, industry, and government demand for 5G services and applications heats up, NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) is focused on finding ways to make the most efficient use of scarce spectrum resources. Many commercial providers have their eyes on so-called mid-band spectrum because it offers them the best combination of coverage, speed, and latency.  However, many U.S. government departments and agencies, including the Department of Defense (DoD), operate radar and communications platforms important to the nation’s national security and defense in those bands. A few week ago, the skies over Colorado played host to ITS experiments that will contribute to developing solutions to enable dynamic spectrum sharing between commercial and government users. 

Over the course of two hours, a U.S. Air Force high-power radar plane, operating in the 3 GHz spectrum band, repeatedly flew past the Table Mountain Radio Quiet Zone Advanced Communications Test site near Boulder. On the ground, ITS researchers collected data that will begin to shed light on how 5G cellular services might dynamically share spectrum with DoD radar systems. The high-power radar platform provides long range air surveillance; understanding how these system might interact with thousands of terrestrial 5G receivers and transmitters on the ground is essential to the long term viability of 5G networks.  While the flight crew operated the radar system in a variety of modes, ITS engineers measured the radar signals reaching the ground.

Through this Notice, NTIA is reopening an application window for nominations to the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC).  On March 17, 2021, NTIA published a Notice seeking nominations to the CSMAC with a deadline of April 16, 2021, for submissions.  In reopening this application window, NTIA seeks to expand the pool of applicants and best ensure the composition of the committee reflects balanced points of view.