There was a recent article in LightReading that asked a great question – BEAD bet big on CBRS and 6 GHz bands, so why is Congress gutting them? Answering that question needs some context.

NTIA leaned into supporting fixed wireless throughout the BEAD process. During the original BEAD map challenge process, NTIA made it clear that locations covered by WISPs using licensed spectrum (CBRS) were to be considered as served as long as the WISP claimed the ability to deliver 100/20 Mbps broadband. There were vigorous challenges by governments and ISPs during that map challenge, so some areas served by licensed spectrum were kept as BEAD-eligible if speeds were below that threshold.

More recently, NTIA came out with a surprise decision that State Broadband Offices (SBOs) had to remove BEAD locations served by WISPs using only unlicensed spectrum. We’ll have to wait for the final count, but folks are speculating that this removed about 15% of the remaining BEAD-eligible locations nationwide.

It’s likely that the majority of rural WISPs will be incorporating 6 GHz spectrum into rural fixed wireless networks. If they haven’t done so yet, it will be a big component of future electronics upgrades. 6 GHz spectrum has wide channels that allow WISPs to deliver much faster speeds to customers within a reasonable distance from a tower.

When NTIA made the announcement that locations served by unlicensed WISPs are considered to be served, NTIA also changed the BEAD grant rules drastically and is allowing fixed wireless, cellular FWA, and satellite on the same playing field as fiber when choosing grant winners. NTIA is allowing SBOs to give some priority to fiber, but since NTIA also reserves the right to review every grant award, I think the priority for fiber is somewhat of a smokescreen. It seems clear that wireless carriers and satellite carriers are going to win a lot more BEAD locations than anybody ever anticipated. WISPs that win BEAD are going to be heavily reliant on CBRS and 6 GHz spectrum.

At the same time that BEAD was changing, Congress took a different path that poses a big threat to the availability of CBRS and 6 GHz spectrum. Congress has accepted the hype from cellular carriers that they will be running out of spectrum in a few years. The carriers even rolled out the old saw that the U.S. is losing the 5G race to China. My cynical take is that the carriers want more spectrum to expand FWA home wireless.

In the One Big Beautiful Bill, Congress renewed the FCC’s ability to hold spectrum auctions and instructed the FCC and NTIA to identify at least 800 megahertz of spectrum between 1.3 GHz and 10.5 GHz to be auctioned. The FCC must auction at least 300 megahertz of spectrum within two years, which must include at least 100 megahertz of the C-Band spectrum between 3.98-4.2 GHz. The bill carves out two bands of spectrum that cannot be considered for auction or relocation. The 3.1-3.25 GHz spectrum has been used by the military for many years. Also excluded is spectrum between 7.4-8.4 GHz, which is part of the X-Band spectrum that is used for military satellites.

The FCC and NTIA must identify 500 megahertz of other spectrum that will support full-power commercial licensed use cases. The new law does not protect CBRS spectrum, which sits at 3-55 – 3.7 GHz. This spectrum is used today by over 1,000 entities today such as WISPs, private networks, ports, schools, sports venues, hospitals, airports, and the DOD. The OBBB also doesn’t protect 6 GHz spectrum that is fully used today for WiFi. The FCC approved 6 GHz spectrum for WiFi in April 2020, and the spectrum is key to the ongoing deployment of WiFi 6 and WiFi 7, along with rural broadband.

There is no guarantee that the FCC will touch these two blocks of spectrum, but it’s going to be exceedingly hard to find 800 MHz of spectrum to auction without grabbing some or all of these two spectrum bands. There will obviously be a big battle from WISPs and the WiFi industry to protect CBRS and 6 GHz, but the FCC has the cover from Congress to allow them to raid the two spectrum bands.

As the LightReading article points out, NTIA and Congress are working at odds with each other. It’s not hard to envision BEAD grants going to WISPs and then watching WISPs lose the spectrum they need.

This whole mess comes from Congress meddling in spectrum policy – something they haven’t done before. The historical process was for the FCC to weigh the pros and cons of available spectrum and to pick the most beneficial use for each spectrum band. But Congress wanted to claim $85 billion in potential revenue from spectrum auctions to offset tax cuts.

I’ve talked to WISPs who say that losing CBRS and 6 GHz spectrum puts them out of business. That would leave them with the historic WiFi spectrum that has too few and overused channels.

The economy will suffer greatly in the long run if the cellular carriers are able to pull off this unprecedented raid on spectrum. Rural broadband will suffer a big hit. But the biggest hit to the economy would come from loss of WiFi spectrum, which fuels trillions of dollars of value across the economy.