A Senate panel has cleared a bill that would require federal agencies to give up some of their airwaves for use in commercial wireless communications, Bloomberg BNA reported Friday.Lydia Beyoud writes the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Thursday voted to pass the proposed Mobile Now Act that Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) introduced.
The bill contains 12 amendments that Nelson considered non-controversial, including the reallocation of up to 200 megahertz of spectrum held by the federal government to licensed and unlicensed spectrum users.
David McCabe also reports for The Hill that the proposed legislation would require the Commerce Department to come up with recommendations in 18 months on how to offer incentives to agencies that free up their airwaves for commercial use.
The Mobile Now Act would also improve the process for the establishment of wireless broadband infrastructure and incentivize innovative approaches that aim to support the efficient use of spectrum, according to the report.
