OTI Joins Comments Urging the FCC to Adopt a Tribal Licensing Window in the Upcoming AWS-3 Auction

These comments were covered by Communications Daily.

The Open Technology Institute (OTI) at New America joined the National Congress of American Indians, Tribal Digital Village Network, Waskawiwin, Public Knowledge, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, X-Lab, and Benton Institute for Broadband and Society in submitting comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of including a Tribal licensing window (TLW) in the upcoming Advanced Wireless Service (AWS-3) 113 Auction.

These comments emphasize that no statute, rule, or Executive Order prevents the Commission from adopting a TLW. To the contrary, the Commission’s obligations under the federal trust responsibility support inclusion of a TLW, as does the Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications Information Administration.

In light of these proceedings and agreements recognizing Tribal sovereignty over spectrum on Tribal lands, and in light of the clear and tremendous benefits to Tribal Nations created by the 2.5 GHz Window, our comments argue that the Commission should not hesitate to adopt a TLW for the upcoming auction.