Remarks of Arielle Roth
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
Americas Spectrum Management Conference
October 30, 2025

Good morning. I am honored to join you for the 14th Americas Spectrum Management Conference, and I want to thank Forum Global for once again organizing such an outstanding program.

Each year, this event brings together leaders from government and industry to tackle one of the defining challenges of our time: how to manage and maximize the spectrum that powers our connected lives. It's a privilege to be part of this conversation and share how NTIA is advancing America's next chapter of spectrum innovation. I also want to thank my friend, Commissioner Trusty, for her thoughtful remarks and leadership in this area.

These opening months of the Trump Administration represent a dramatic shift in America's spectrum policy-a pivot from plans to action. Together with our federal partners, we're driving hard to meet the spectrum targets in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OB3. Identifying two hundred megahertz to make available for mobile broadband in two years is our first target; beating it is the ambition.

OB3 is the cornerstone of this administration's spectrum policy-designed to push America to the frontier of technology and avoid the massive opportunity costs of underutilized frequencies. In a world where technological strength equals national strength, those costs are steep: slower innovation and a greater risk that our adversaries lead in the technologies built on spectrum-5G and 6G networks, AI, drones, integrated sensing, quantum-secure communications, and beyond.

But OB3 cannot be the ceiling of U.S. spectrum leadership. With skyrocketing demand for satellite spectrum, and the coming convergence of networks that will define 6G, we need an across-the-board approach to stay ahead.

NTIA's spectrum management work will be grounded in three core principles.

First, spectrum policy shouldn't be zero-sum: Just as the OB3 pipeline advances win-wins for federal and commercial users, we must ensure that our work on one service doesn't take away from our attention to others. In the 6G era of convergence, we need more spectrum access for everyone.

Second, bureaucracy should never stand in the way of progress. Government must clear the runway for innovation by streamlining coordination, reducing regulatory delays, and empowering the private sector to move fast.

And third, technology neutrality isn't just a slogan-it's an existential necessity. When government favors one technology over others, innovation slows. As we've highlighted in NTIA's broadband grant program, BEAD, locking in a single model crowds out research and development, distorts the market, and ultimately warps progress. Spectrum policy must promote experimentation, scale, and flexibility to keep America's innovators on top.

These principles will help the United States lead the world into the 6G era-empowering entrepreneurs, strengthening national security, and driving prosperity for decades to come.

Launching Innovation

No frontier demands these principles more than space, where innovation moves at orbital speed and bureaucracy still moves at dial-up.

Satellites enable everything from weather forecasting to GPS. They ensure our first responders and our troops can communicate in any environment. They provide broadband connectivity in remote areas, in war zones, and even in the middle of the ocean.

But all of this depends on reliable, efficient spectrum access. Our task is to find bottlenecks and remove them-quickly and effectively.

That starts when satellites are still on the ground, waiting to be launched.

For years, satellite providers have expressed frustration with the process of coordinating launch frequencies.

While the FCC ultimately grants requests for access, NTIA plays a critical role in coordinating with federal users to prevent interference.

To expedite and streamline approvals, NTIA has developed the Space Launch Frequency Coordination Portal-a practical, user-friendly platform that makes the process seamless and transparent. It will provide launch providers like SpaceX and ULA quicker access, with less administrative hassle, to the congested S-band spectrum used by so many federal agencies.

We intend to expand uses of this portal to establish a larger, one-stop, easily accessible online tool for applicants to file their spectrum coordination requests, check the status of their applications, and see them through to approval.

That means more efficient approvals, fewer delays-and ultimately, faster innovation.

America's Leadership in Commercial Space

Beyond launch coordination, NTIA also routinely reviews and authorizes spectrum access for federal space activities and virtually all new commercial space systems.

One major example is SpaceX's Gen2 Version 3 application, which seeks access to thousands of megahertz of spectrum, including frequencies previously unallocated for commercial satellite communications. It promises to expand satellite capacity for millions of new users.

It's a complex review, but complexity is no excuse for delay. Innovation demands urgency, and we're grateful to our federal partners and SpaceX for their cooperation throughout the process. We look forward to sharing more once our interagency review is complete.

As we move toward the 6G era, one of the most revolutionary developments is the rapid progress in direct-to-device satellite technology. Just as new technologies have helped close gaps in access to fixed broadband across our country, direct-to-device satellite is already connecting Americans in the most remote areas where it is uneconomical to build towers. Consumers don't care whether their signal comes from a tower or a satellite; they just need it to work. This seamless integration of networks is central to the 6G vision-and ensuring the right regulatory and spectrum conditions will be key to U.S. leadership.

These trends are also a powerful reminder that making more spectrum available for the private sector isn't a zero-sum game for federal users. The military relies increasingly on commercial off-the-shelf technology from radios, to drones, to private 5G networks. That applies to satellite innovation as well: the Department of War is actively expanding its use of Low Earth Orbit satellite programs through the development of its own constellations and by dramatically increasing its use of commercial space services.

The U.S. Government is even benefiting from commercial spectrum innovation to return humans to the moon and prepare for future missions to Mars. NASA's Artemis program is powered not just by rockets, but by advances in how we use spectrum-satellite networks, ground stations, and optical links originally designed for the broadband market. Many of the same spectrum innovations that connect rural Americas are now connecting astronauts to the Moon.

Spectrum innovation is literally powering America's return to space-and NTIA is committed to keeping that leadership strong.

Back to Earth

Let's come back down to Earth-and to one of America's greatest spectrum success stories: Wi-Fi, the quiet powerhouse that keeps our homes, airports, and small businesses running.

Congress did not include 6 GHz in the spectrum bands mandated for repurposing studies, but it did not explicitly carve it out either as it did with the lower 3 GHz or the 7.4-8.4 GHz bands.

This led to speculation-and some misinformation-that the United States was planning to repurpose the 6 GHz band for mobile broadband.

Let me be clear: OB3 does not alter U.S. policy for the 6 GHz band, which was designated for unlicensed use during the first Trump Administration. That remains our position.

American companies lead the world in unlicensed device technologies using the 6 GHz band. No one does it better, and the world knows it.

Meanwhile, countries like China are pushing to allocate the band for licensed 5G-but without any comparable market success.

We're building a growing coalition of nations that share our vision for Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band. While 6 GHz is not on the agenda for WRC-27, we will be vigilant in defending the band's critical role in powering global Wi-Fi connectivity.

In the next decade, we are on the brink of an of an integrated system of networks, with America setting the global standard. It's a promise of seamless connectivity, situational awareness, and intelligent systems that will enhance growth, security, and opportunity.

But we can only realize this vision if we get spectrum policy right-if we minimize bureaucracy, stay technologically-neutral, and empower American innovation.

The world has always looked to America to lead in spectrum management. At NTIA, we are determined to ensure it continues to do so.