Senate Commerce Committee Markup Approves MOBILE NOW Act

At its markup this morning, the Senate Commerce Committee voted to approve the MOBILE NOW Act (S. 2555) for consideration by the full Senate. This bill, introduced by Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), would increase the development of next-generation 5G wireless broadband by freeing up more spectrum for both commercial licensed and unlicensed use and improving broadband infrastructure deployment.

The following can be attributed to Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Project at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“OTI applauds Senators Thune and Nelson for crafting a bill that is both truly bipartisan and that emphasizes the growing importance of unlicensed spectrum and Wi-Fi in meeting the nation’s exploding demand for wireless broadband connectivity.

“The Senate’s Mobile NOW Act promises to make mobile broadband faster and more affordable for consumers by explicitly providing for substantial new unlicensed and licensed spectrum access.

“Senator Schatz deserves great credit for his tireless leadership on the unlicensed provisions, as do Senators Moran, Booker and Gardner for their amendments specifying that an additional 100 megahertz or more of unlicensed spectrum must be allocated.”