The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23 unanimously passed a bipartisan bill led by U.S. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH) to modernize the government’s coordination of wireless spectrum, a federally allocated, limited resource relied upon for services like mobile phones, radio, television, and satellites, among others. The bill now heads to the full chamber for consideration.
“From the cell phone in your hand to the radio in your car, it all relies on the efficient and effective federal coordination of this finite resource,” Rep. Balderson said following the committee’s markup and 49-0 vote to approve the Spectrum Coordination Act, H.R. 1341.
The congressman on March 3 sponsored H.R. 1341 with original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster (D-NH) to require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to update their coordination agreement every four years, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Balderson’s staff.
An agreement renewed more often will take into account the rapid advancements in wireless technology, the summary says, noting that the most recent agreement took 20 years to update.
“Federal agencies have a bad track record at keeping pace with technological advances, especially the rapid acceleration of wireless communications over the past several decades,” said Rep. Balderson. “This legislation pushes federal agencies to keep up so Americans can be confident that access to critically important technology that we all rely on every day is not interrupted.”
If enacted, the bill also would increase transparency and accountability by requiring the public disclosure of concerns with potential spectrum actions, impacts on government agencies, and how such concerns would be addressed, according to the summary.
H.R. 1341 was among 19 pieces of legislation the E&C Committee considered during Thursday’s markup hearing, which was led by U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the committee’s chair.
“The Energy and Commerce Committee is leading on solutions to keep America at the forefront of next-generation communications technology, protect the health and well-being of our citizens, and unleash domestic energy production to its full potential,” the congresswoman said last week.