RSSThe U.S. House of Representatives approved the Spectrum Innovation Act, which would provide up to $10 billion in funding for next-generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1).
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If passed by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by the president, the bill would require that no later than seven years after the bill is enacted, the FCC auction off spectrum in the 3.1 – 3.45 GHz band.
All proceeds from that auction would first go to cover relocation and/or sharing costs of incumbent federal users in the band. After that, $3.4 billion would go to the FCC to be used on reimbursements under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. Under that bill, the FCC can provide reimbursements to small communications providers to offset the costs of removing and replacing equipment deemed to be a national security threat from their networks.
Finally, the remainder of the funds, with a cap of $10 billion would go to the 9-1-1 Implementation Coordination Office within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to help with the transition to NG 9-1-1.
The bill now moves onto the Senate for full approval.
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