The Biden administration’s National Spectrum Strategy, released on November 13, 2023, directed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to identify at least 1,500 MHz of federal and mixed-use spectrum for in-depth band studies, with an expanded 2,700 MHz analysis scope. The strategy flags mid-band frequencies including 3.1–3.45 GHz and millimeter-wave bands for potential commercial reuse. For carriers, the document establishes a multi-year regulatory pipeline, and the Trump administration’s subsequent legislation has redrawn key parts of that pipeline.
What the National Spectrum Strategy Directs
The White House released the Strategy on November 13, 2023, under coordination between NTIA and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Its central directive: identify a minimum of 1,500 MHz of spectrum in federal and mixed-use bands for detailed study, with a broader 2,700 MHz envelope framing the overall analysis effort.
NTIA published the accompanying National Spectrum Strategy Implementation Plan on February 23, 2024, translating the presidential directive into agency-level schedules and study mandates. The Implementation Plan assigned start and completion dates to each band study, established a streamlined Spectrum Relocation Fund (SRF) pipeline process for federal agencies, and committed NTIA to publishing a national long-term spectrum planning framework by September 2026.
The Strategy also directed NTIA to develop, by December 2025, a road map for improving receiver resistance to harmful interference: a technical prerequisite for any sharing arrangement between federal radar systems and commercial 5G networks. That road map directly influences how quickly cleared spectrum can be made available for auction.
A dedicated portal, spectrum.gov, was launched to centralize federal spectrum management data and stakeholder engagement. The portal supports NTIA’s coordination role between federal users and the FCC, which holds statutory auction authority over commercial licenses. For a comprehensive look at FCC auction procedures, see the FCC Spectrum Auction Policy Guide.
The Target Bands: What NTIA Is Studying
The Implementation Plan identified five primary band sets for formal study. Each carries distinct timelines and incumbency profiles that shape how quickly, if at all, commercial reuse becomes viable.
The 3.1–3.45 GHz band spans 350 MHz of contested mid-band territory and was placed on a March 2024 start date with a projected October 2026 completion. The 7.125–8.4 GHz range, covering over 1,200 MHz across government fixed and mobile services, runs on a parallel track. The 5.030–5.091 GHz segment, 61 MHz reserved largely for aviation navigation, entered study roughly one year after initial publication, with completion scheduled for March 2027.
The 18.1–18.6 GHz band, 500 MHz of satellite and fixed-service spectrum, began its formal study in May 2024 with a one-year completion window. The 37.0–37.6 GHz lower millimeter-wave band moved fastest: DoD and NTIA released a joint spectrum sharing report in November 2024, making it the first completed deliverable under the Strategy’s mandate. That report recommends a co-equal Federal and non-Federal sharing framework for the 37.2–37.6 GHz portion, with potential use cases including fixed wireless access, high-capacity backhaul, and industrial IoT deployments.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, NTIA also disclosed four additional bands for study: 1.680–1.695 GHz; 2.7–2.9 GHz; 4.4–4.94 GHz; and 7.125–7.4 GHz. The 1.675–1.680 GHz segment was identified as the first candidate band for reallocation under the new legislative framework.
DoD Opposition and the 3.1 GHz Exclusion
The most commercially significant omission in the original Biden Strategy was the 3.1–3.45 GHz band’s exclusion from near-term auction consideration. DoD uses that 350 MHz block for fixed, mobile, ground-based, shipborne, and airborne radar systems, including ballistic missile defense arrays, airborne early warning and control aircraft, aerial surveillance platforms, and counterfire radar. Military stakeholders argued that incumbent systems cannot be relocated on any commercially relevant timeline.
Commercial carriers and the CTIA trade association pushed hard for inclusion, citing the band’s adjacency to the existing 3.45–3.55 GHz mid-band licenses auctioned in 2021 and the 3.7–3.98 GHz C-band licenses cleared between 2022 and 2024. Aggregating those blocks would create a contiguous mid-band holding potentially exceeding 400–500 MHz, the bandwidth density that supports densification for 5G Advanced and early 6G planning.
NTIA placed the 3.1–3.45 GHz band into study rather than the auction pipeline, signaling that any commercial reuse would require years of interference analysis and, potentially, DoD system relocation funding before the FCC could open a proceeding. That decision drew criticism from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who publicly questioned the Implementation Plan’s pace and the adequacy of its timelines for meeting U.S. commercial spectrum needs.
The study-first approach reflected a structural tension: NTIA coordinates federal spectrum and advocates for federal incumbents, while the FCC holds auction authority. Neither agency can unilaterally resolve a DoD objection rooted in active defense system requirements.
From Biden to Trump: What Changed
President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Pub.L. 119-21) on July 4, 2025, enacting the most significant statutory change to U.S. spectrum policy since the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. The legislation superseded key elements of the Biden Strategy’s band study framework by directing specific auctions and codifying the 3.1–3.45 GHz exclusion into law.
The Act directed the FCC to auction at least 800 MHz of spectrum for commercial use over the next decade, generating a projected $85 billion in taxpayer proceeds. The Upper C-band (3.98–4.2 GHz) received a mandatory timeline: the FCC must complete an auction of at least 100 MHz in that block by July 2027. The FCC issued a Notice of Inquiry in February 2025 and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in November 2025 to meet that deadline.
On AWS-3 frequencies, covering 1,695–1,710 MHz, 1,755–1,780 MHz, and 2,155–2,180 MHz, the Act directed auction initiation no later than June 23, 2026. Bidding in FCC Auction 113 is scheduled to open June 2, 2026. Proceeds are earmarked to fully fund the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks rip-and-replace program covering Huawei and ZTE equipment removal from U.S. networks.
The 3.1–3.45 GHz band is excluded from the commercial auction pipeline entirely under the Act’s text, closing the policy debate that had run since at least 2020. For NTIA, the statutory framework effectively narrows the Biden-era band study agenda: studies on bands not covered by the Act’s pipeline directives continue, but the political and legislative pressure now centers on Upper C-band and AWS-3 execution. The BEAD broadband program, which funds last-mile deployment infrastructure that will consume much of this new mid-band capacity, is detailed in the BEAD Program Guide.
What’s Next: Band Study Timelines
The 3.1–3.45 GHz study remains on track for an October 2026 completion despite the band’s legislative exclusion from near-term auction. NTIA has confirmed it is using the streamlined SRF pipeline process for both the Lower 3 GHz and 7/8 GHz band studies, allowing federal agencies to draw relocation funding earlier in the process rather than waiting for FCC auction proceeds.
The 5.030–5.091 GHz aviation band study is scheduled for March 2027 completion. That 61 MHz block is primarily relevant to drone spectrum planning, a growing federal priority tied to FAA integration of unmanned aircraft systems into national airspace. DoD and FAA incumbency in that band makes near-term commercial reuse unlikely regardless of study outcomes.
NTIA’s national long-term spectrum planning framework, due September 2026, will attempt to align the Biden-era study pipeline with the Trump-era legislative auction directives. The 37.2–37.6 GHz sharing framework, already recommended in the November 2024 joint DoD-NTIA report, awaits FCC rulemaking to convert the recommendation into enforceable license conditions.
For carriers, the operational planning horizon is clearer than it was in late 2023. The Upper C-band auction deadline of July 2027 is statutory. AWS-3 bidding opens June 2026. Mid-band below 3.45 GHz remains off the table through at least the end of the current legislative cycle. The Biden Strategy’s structural contribution: a formal, documented band study process with published timelines — survives as the procedural scaffolding, even as its specific band-by-band outcomes have been reshaped by Congressional action.