One of the best, but unheralded features of the Big Beautiful Tax Cut passed in July was an authorization for the FCC to raise $88 to $100 billion through electronic spectrum auctions.
Selling this added 600 to 800 megahertz of band width to the private sector will enable the U.S. to expand 5G and even 6G technology and assure American dominance in internet, AI, and satellite technologies.
Donald Trump gets this and earlier this year posted on his Truth Social account that he supports “freeing up plenty of spectrum for auction” to assure America’s “status as the worldwide leader in WIFI, 5G and 6G.”
Every penny of the revenues from these spectrum sales will be allocated to reducing the federal deficit/debt.
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had proposed a spectrum deal twice as large raising as much as $200 billion and creating a wireless “pipeline” that would provide 5G reception and services to nearly all households and businesses.
Some of the opposition to the spectrum auction comes from the cable industry. They worry that wireless will replace cable hookups. And they are right. But this is because wireless is a superior 21st century technology.
The phone companies weren’t too happy when cell phones took over the market. We didn’t stop Apple’s quest to put a wireless phone in every customer’s palm.
AT&T believes the spectrum auction plus the immediate expensing for capital purchases in the Trump tax bill will increase wireless and fiber services to an additional 1 million customer locations annually starting in 2026 to meet “soaring consumer demand.”
What a great way to close the “digital divide” facing lower income families.
But now our congressional sources are warning of a potential hold up. The Dems have opposed the measure. Most notably, Democratic Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, has urged Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and urged a “go slow” approach to auctions to protect “critical spectrum bands used for national defense and aviation safety.”
I’m all for putting national security first, but the spectrum auction will preserve plenty of spectrum for these critical national defense functions with the government still controlling about half the bandwidth.
House Democrats have complained that the revenues from this national resource should be used for high priority national concerns. Again. They are right. But what could be a bigger national concern than the size of our cancerous national debt and $2 trillion borrowing obligations each year?
A bigger worry is that an amendment to the Senate Defense authorization bill sponsored by Republican Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer would impose “limitations on Electronic Spectrum Modifications.” The Trump administration has rightly protested this language, arguing that this would curtail auctions and undercut the deal agreed to back in July for nearly $100 billion of auctions.
Selling spectrum space to T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T and tech companies would likely enhance Americans’ safety. Consider that previous spectrum sales have enabled AT&T to develop and expand FirstNet – a wireless and encrypted network for public safety warnings that helps first responders in reacting to terrorist attacks, hurricanes, tornadoes or other acts of Mother Nature.
Meanwhile, China is intent on winning the next tech race and has sold off substantially more of their spectrum to private interests than we have.
The national security implications of China winning the race for 6G and other wireless communications technology are a clear and present danger to our national and economic security. This bandwidth in the hands of private sector innovators can be much more valuable to our economic and security interests than if it remains in the hands of politicians and a federal Defense Department bureaucracy.
There’s an old saying that possession is 90% of the law. The military complex simply wants to keep this vital asset because they have it. Trump is right: that doesn’t put America first.
Stephen Moore is a co-founder of Unleash Prosperity and a former Trump senior economic adviser. His latest book is “The Trump Economic Miracle.”
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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