FCC Chair Brendan Carr Projects $100 Billion From Spectrum Auctions

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr announced that a series of wireless spectrum auctions scheduled through 2028 could generate more than $100 billion in proceeds. The FCC has already voted to hold a 2027 auction of 160 megahertz of mid-band spectrum in the Upper C-Band, with three additional auctions planned to follow.

As part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration, the government is preparing multiple 6G wireless auctions for 2028. These auctions are intended to support the infrastructure required for driverless cars and artificial intelligence. Carr stated that the initiative aims to introduce new competition to challenge the market dominance of T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T, which he believes will lower prices for consumers and increase revenue for the Treasury.

This push for expanded capacity follows recent FCC approvals of spectrum sales involving U.S. Cellular, EchoStar, and SpaceX. The latter acquired spectrum to support Starlink device-to-device services and received approval to deploy thousands of additional satellites to expand space-based broadband services.