NTIA Proposes Spectrum Sharing

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has recommended that a huge chunk of spectrum used by 20 government agencies be made available to commercial mobile operations, but on a shared basis. The thinking is that clearing chunks of spectrum will be expensive and time-consuming. It would be easier to share the spectrum in some way,  the proposal suggests. 


Instead of clearing the 1755 MHz to 1850 MHz block of all government transmitters, the NTIA recommends that federal agencies and mobile operators share the airwaves, splitting use of the bandwidth. 


There are 3,100 individual spectrum assignments in that 95 MHz block, suggesting the complexity of moving users around. The details of how that sharing might work are in a report being sent to the Federal Communications by the NTIA.