As NTIA prepares to study the 4.4 GHz band, a new analysis from Valo Analytica, released by Spectrum for the Future, finds that sharing could make more of this spectrum available for commercial use, faster, while keeping federal systems in place.
Congress included shared federal and non-federal use among the options NTIA should consider as it identifies spectrum for commercial use. The White House has separately directed NTIA to study whether portions of the band can be reallocated for full-power commercial licensed use. The findings make the case that sharing belongs at the center of that review.
A Valuable Band with Critical Incumbents
The 4.4 GHz band is one of the most heavily used federal bands ever considered for repurposing. It supports military communications, drone operations, wildfire monitoring, border security, and nuclear emergency response. A traditional exclusive approach could require relocating or reconfiguring many of those systems. Sharing offers a way to add commercial use around them. That means the country can unlock the band’s economic and innovation potential while keeping defense and critical-infrastructure capabilities intact, without having to choose between the two national priorities.
What the Report Finds
Compared with clearing federal users, sharing could offer several advantages:
- Faster access. Sharing can begin once a coordination framework is operational, with incumbents staying in place. Federal clearing efforts have historically taken a decade or more.
- Lower transition costs. Relocating complex federal systems could cost tens of billions of dollars. Sharing avoids much of that expense.
- More usable bandwidth. Exclusive licensing gives a single operator a fixed block. Sharing can open the entire band wherever and whenever federal users are absent, giving multiple commercial users more capacity where they need it.
- Stronger net returns. Federal law generally requires eligible auctions to generate at least 110% of estimated relocation or sharing costs, so net revenue to the Treasury is lower than gross receipts. A shared, auctioned tier could carry little comparable clearing cost and generate revenue sooner, potentially producing a competitive or greater net return.
The Technology Already Works at Scale
The report points to sharing tools already in operation today:
- 6 GHz: Automated Frequency Coordination already protects more than 70,000 fixed links, roughly 20 times the estimated number in 4.4 GHz. Fixed links are the band’s largest federal use.
- CBRS: More than 440,000 base stations operate today without harmful interference to incumbent military radars.
- Data protection: Existing coordination models can determine spectrum availability without revealing the locations or technical details of federal systems.
Tools such as Automated Frequency Coordination and Dynamic Protection Areas could support a sharing regime here, with specifics refined by the results of NTIA’s studies.
Connectivity for the AI Economy
Robotics, smart factories, automated logistics, and energy systems increasingly rely on dedicated, localized wireless networks. Shared spectrum puts those networks within reach of manufacturers, ports, utilities, and other enterprises that cannot justify a nationwide exclusive license.
CBRS has already shown how this works. As a recent study found, 75% of U.S. private 5G networks rely on CBRS, supporting use cases from mobile robotics to AI-powered quality control.
A Model Worth Building On
Sharing frameworks like CBRS and 6 GHz have already proven that commercial networks and sensitive federal operations can coexist at scale, without disruption to the missions that depend on this spectrum. As NTIA begins its 4.4 GHz study, that track record shows why sharing should be evaluated as a core strategy for maximizing the band’s value, not an afterthought.
America’s finite spectrum resources should be put to their highest and best use for the broadest range of innovators, not reserved for a select few. The 4.4 GHz band is a chance to do exactly that.
