Is Now The Optimal Time To Sell Spectrum?
JULY 2021
Proposed legislation may cause increase in spectrum supply. March 2021, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced the Government Spectrum Valuation Act. The legislation requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to audit the holdings and value of all spectrum assigned to federal agencies, including the Department of Defense.
To the extent that this legislation is passed, it will likely result in a significant increase in the supply of available spectrum which may in turn put downward pressure on values for existing spectrum licenses.
“Senator Lee’s bill would boost spectrum efficiency among government users while freeing critical bands for private sector use.” – Mike O’Reilly, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission.
The spectrum assigned to federal agencies (comprised of the broadest frequency range of 3 kilohertz to 95 gigahertz) represents a massive amount of spectrum – much of which is not utilized or is under-utilized.
Other facets of the legislation include determining how much of the federal agencies’ spectrum can be released into the marketplace and sold to commercial buyers – which would increase supply and potentially impact spectrum values.
As a result, now may be the optimal time for EBS license holders to evaluate and monetize the value of their spectrum licenses before the spectrum supply increases.
WCO Spectrum is dedicated to creating maximum value for EBS license holders and can assist you in your license monetization efforts.