The Energy & Commerce Committee's
Communications Subcommittee will hold a hearing Sept. 13, "Creating
Opportunities through Improved Government Spectrum Efficiency," on freeing
up government spectrum.
The
Obama Administration is in the process of encouraging government agencies to
find spectrum to either relinquish or share as part of its goal to get wireless
broadband to 98% of the population within five years.
"The
subcommittee will continue to examine how both federal agencies and commercial
wireless carriers might benefit from more efficient government use of
spectrum," said Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore). "As the
single largest spectrum user, the federal government could save taxpayers money
and make more frequencies available to meet American consumers' growing demand
for mobile broadband services, while improving its own capabilities."
The
Energy & Commerce Committee was active in the passage of legislation to
authorize incentive auctions to reclaim spectrum from broadcasters to help free
it up for wireless broadband and other use. The bill also directed the federal
government to find its own spectrum to reclaim for commercial wireless use.
