New Federal Law Requires NTIA to Publicly Inventory All Government Radio Spectrum Use Between 225 MHz and 50 GHz Annually

The new Federal Government Spectrum Inventory Act is straightforward: it forces the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to start publishing an annual, public report detailing exactly how the federal government uses a huge chunk of the radio spectrum.

This isn’t just some dusty internal memo. Starting 180 days after the bill becomes law, the NTIA has to inventory all federal frequency assignments between 225 megahertz (MHz) and 50 gigahertz (GHz). Think of this range as the digital real estate where everything from military communications and weather satellites to your 5G phone signal fights for space. The goal here is transparency: show the public and industry where the government is currently parked, how many licenses it holds, and what its future plans are for these vital airwaves (Sec. 2).

The Digital Landlord’s Ledger: What’s Being Counted

For most people, radio spectrum is invisible, but it’s the foundation of modern digital life. This inventory is critical because spectrum is a finite resource. When the government sits on spectrum, it’s not available for commercial uses—like expanding 5G networks, improving rural broadband, or developing new wireless technologies. By forcing the NTIA to publish a detailed ledger, the bill aims to clear up this bottleneck.

The report must include several key pieces of information. First, it requires the official United States Table of Frequency Allocations for the 225 MHz to 50 GHz bands, complete with all footnotes that detail special rules or limitations. More importantly, the NTIA must list the exact number and type of frequency assignments it has authorized within those bands. This is the practical data: how much is being used, and for what main systems and applications (Sec. 2).

For a telecom company looking to bid on new spectrum or a tech developer planning a new wireless product, this public data is gold. It tells them which frequencies are truly tied up and which might become available, leading to better planning and potentially faster deployment of new services that benefit consumers—like faster internet or more reliable cell service.

The Transparency Clause (and the Catch)

One of the most important provisions is that the entire report must be posted on the NTIA’s public website. This is the transparency win, giving industry analysts and everyday citizens a look behind the curtain at federal spectrum usage. However, the bill does include a necessary, if slightly frustrating, caveat: the report is allowed to have a classified annex.

This means that sensitive information—the stuff related to national security or specific military operations—can be kept secret. While this is understandable, the definition of "sensitive information" is where things can get tricky. If the government decides that too much operational detail falls into that classified annex, it could undermine the primary goal of public transparency. We’ll need to watch how broadly the NTIA interprets this exception, balancing national security needs against the public’s right to know how a shared resource is being managed.