News and Events

Spectrum sharing strategies hold great promise for meeting the growing needs of commercial and federal users.  This is an area of intense study at NTIA as we seek to protect critical federal missions while enabling new commercial opportunities.

As we close the books on 2019, NTIA took stock of strides made in the past year on key Administration priorities. Topping the list is our work to make spectrum available for 5G, including completing engineering work to put critical mid-band spectrum to use in the 3.5 GHz band. NTIA also is proud of our work with government partners to enhance broadband connectivity, improve technology equipment in 911 call centers, and secure networks from cyber threats.

Ensuring U.S. Leadership in 5G, Broadband Opportunities

Participants in NTIA’s software security multistakeholder effort made significant progress this year, publishing the first set of community-drafted documents to offer guidance around the practice of a software bill of materials (SBOM). The SBOM functions as a “list of ingredients” for software that can help organizations keep track of the underlying components that make up almost all software today.

Every initiative to expand spectrum use and efficiency relies on predictions of how far a wireless signal will travel, or propagate, before interfering with another user or fading away. Unlocking the full potential of spectrum resources requires a deep understanding of radio wave behavior, and accurate propagation models, so that systems can be designed to coexist in a crowded environment.

One of the most significant challenges to expanding broadband connectivity is determining which parts of the country remain unconnected. Getting this information would help states and local communities – and the providers they work with -- more accurately understand where new infrastructure is needed.

Earlier this month, NTIA convened the latest in a series of multistakeholder meetings on software component transparency. For more than a year, stakeholders have been exploring this issue through four working groups established during the July 2018 kickoff meeting. The broader community meets periodically to share progress and encourage feedback through in-person and virtual meetings.

The first meeting of newly appointed members of the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will be held on Oct. 1. The committee includes 30 outside experts who advise the Assistant Secretary of Commerce on a range of spectrum policy and technology issues. Two co-chairs lead the committee: Jennifer Warren, Vice President, Technology Policy & Regulation, Lockheed Martin; and Charla Rath, independent consultant and former Verizon executive.

Spectrum policy leaders from the Administration, private industry and federal government will participate in NTIA’s 2019 Spectrum Policy Symposium on Sept. 10 at the National Press Club. The program will provide updates on efforts to develop the National Spectrum Strategy as required by the Oct. 25, 2018 Presidential Memorandum on “Developing a Sustainable Spectrum Strategy for America’s Future.”

How can a smart city improve communities? At the recent Global City Teams Challenge (GCTC) Expo, city officials across the country dug into this challenge. The three-day meeting welcomed shared stories about smart city projects that are helping communities improve agriculture and health care, reduce traffic congestion, increase energy efficiency, and speed emergency response times.

On Thursday, NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) released final test reports to commercial entities that participated in spectrum sharing testing on a model that would allow commercial and military use in the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band. The completed tests will drive progress toward initial commercial deployments in the band, prized for its excellent mix of capacity and coverage capabilities. With 4G LTE technology for the band available today, industry has already begun to develop specifications to support 5G deployments.

Today, NTIA filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to update the rules governing Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) so that it better reflects current technologies and industry practices.  NTIA filed the petition and a draft set of updated rules on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

NTIA’s engineering lab has shared Spectrum Access System (SAS) laboratory test reports with the commercial entities that participated in spectrum sharing testing at the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences. The reports are a critical part of advancing the sharing model in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service 3.5 GHz band.

Charles Cooper, a seasoned executive and spectrum engineer with more than 25 years of broad federal and private sector experience, will become the new Associate Administrator of NTIA’s Office of Spectrum Management on July 1. He joins the agency after six years at the Federal Communications Commission directing radio frequency enforcement activities.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has adopted NTIA software as the global standard to optimize radiofrequency (RF) spectrum sharing between air and ground systems across a broad range of frequencies. The software was released earlier this month and is available on NTIA's Github page.

The United States is among 42 countries to approve a new international agreement for building trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI), marking the first significant step in a global approach on this issue. Adherence to the agreement will foster innovation and trust in AI as it establishes principles for the responsible development and stewardship of AI, while ensuring respect for democratic values.

An innovative spectrum sharing model in the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band is coming closer to reality, NTIA senior spectrum advisor Derek Khlopin reported at the CBRS Alliance annual meeting in Charlotte, N.C. this week.

How can we get more use out of the radio spectrum? One way is by sharing radio bands between users who have never shared before. Consider radio frequencies near 3.5 GHz. Until recently, that part of the spectrum was used almost entirely by U.S. government radars, many of them on Navy aircraft carriers, enabling the same kind of air traffic control for the carriers as radars on land do at airports.

NTIA is hosting its fourth multistakeholder meeting April 11 on software component transparency to work on ways to enable a more secure software ecosystem. We’re excited to report that a great deal of progress has been made since the effort started eight months ago. The goal is to increase transparency around the use of third party software components so that when vulnerabilities are detected, there is a way to quickly remedy problems

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