WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, Transportation, sent a letter to Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) urging the committee to advance their WiFi Innovation Act, which aims to find answers to whether spectrum in the upper 5GHz band can be safely shared for multiple uses, opening up new avenues for technological innovation.
“Expanding access to spectrum can open the door for innovation and the advancement of transformative new technologies,” said Sen. Booker. “Government and industry stakeholders must work together to see if a safe path forward is possible. Our WiFi Innovation Act is already moving stakeholders in the right direction to find outcomes, and I hope the bill will be given the opportunity for debate and deliberation in the Commerce Committee. I know that by working together, we can evaluate whether this valuable resource can be shared safely and look forward to working more with Committee leadership and stakeholders on this issue.”
"Senator Booker and I joined together earlier this year to introduce the WiFi Innovation Act because we recognized the need to free up more unlicensed spectrum to satisfy our increasingly digital world’s growing demands,” said Sen. Rubio. “By moving forward on testing the sharing capabilities of the 5GHz band, we may also move forward in realizing the potential economic opportunities that lie with using this band more efficiently."
“We write to urge you to seek a path forward and find answers to whether spectrum in the 5 GHz band can be safely shared. Increased use of unlicensed technologies and better utilization of spectrum are vital to alleviating the spectrum crunch, expanding Wi-Fi use and promoting cutting edge innovations,” the senators wrote.
A pdf version of the letter can be found HERE.