FCC Chairman Carr says spectrum auction will make wireless faster, cheaper while raising billions for Treasury

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday took a major step toward setting up the United States to be the global leader in wireless innovation, which Chairman Brendan Carr believes will make wireless both faster and cheaper for consumers. 

The FCC voted to adopt rules to auction 160 megahertz of spectrum in the Upper C-Band by July 2027, which combines terrestrial wireless operations across the entire C-Band to create a single "super-band" spanning 440 megahertz (3.70-4.14 GHz) of prime, mid-band spectrum. While the details are technical for most Americans, Carr said he is simply fulfilling the Trump administration’s agenda. 

"One of the things that President Trump did right off the get-go was restore U.S. leadership in wireless. During the Biden years, we fell drastically behind other countries when it came to making spectrum available," Carr told Fox News Digital. 

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Indeed, the U.S. fell behind countries like China during the 5G rollout during the Biden era. But Carr said the passage of Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut authorized and directed the FCC to bring more airwaves into the commercial marketplace, in order to both increase speeds and drive down prices. 

"When most people pick up their smartphone, they usually don't think why it works or what it takes to make it faster or better. But the FCC is now poised to do exactly that by bringing more spectrum, usually invisible airwaves that your phone actually operates on, and push more of that into the commercial market, so we get more competition, faster speeds, more downward pressure on prices," Carr said. 

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The order adopts competitive bidding procedures, allowing wireless providers to bid on wireless licenses. 

"That's expected to raise many billions of dollars for the U.S. Treasury, anywhere between $30 to $60 billion or more," Carr said. 

"So, it's going to be a good win for consumers in that they get faster speeds and better price services," he continued. "It's also a win for the government as well, because we're raising significant revenues by doing that."

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also celebrated the move, saying it will "result in better coverage and faster speeds for consumers."

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The order reconfigures 160 megahertz of the Upper C-band in the contiguous United States for terrestrial wireless flexible use in 3.98–4.14 GHz, with a 20-megahertz guard band at 4.14– 4.16 GHz, according to the FCC. It also folds the Lower C-band and Upper C-band into a single 3.7 GHz Service from 3.7–4.14 GHz in the contiguous United States for terrestrial wireless flexible use and largely harmonizes the licensing, operating and technical rules across the entire band.

The FCC said this promotes "a successful co-existence environment with adjacent band radio altimeters through the adoption of specific technical measures and a carefully coordinated timeline for the introduction of terrestrial wireless operations in the Upper C-band starting in December 2030 that aligns with forthcoming radio altimeter retrofit requirements to be issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)."