Spectrum Relocation Report: Compensation Options for Relocation Costs of Federal Entities

摘要

In December 2004, Congress passed the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act (CSEA) to provide a mechanism for Federal entities to receive compensation when Federal Government stations as-signed to certain frequency bands incur 'relocation costs because of the reallocation of frequencies from Federal use to non-Federal use.' Under the terms of the CSEA, funds for compensation are only available when the Federal entities relocate from spectrum awarded to non-Federal entities through a competitive bidding, or auction process. Section 204 of the CSEA sets up a Spectrum Relocation Fund (SRF) and designates that a portion of the revenues obtained in the auction of the spectrum to non-Federal entities be credited to the SRF to pay the relocation costs of Federal entities. The CSEA directs the Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to submit a report to Congress on the various policy options to compensate Federal entities for relocation costs 'when such entities' frequencies are allocated by the Commission for unlicensed, public safety, shared, or non-commercial use.' These situations are all cases where under current law the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would not use competitive bidding to license the new spectrum users. In response to this congressional request, NTIA provides in this report policy options for funding relocation costs.