Title 47 — Telegraphs, Telephones, and RadiotelegraphsRelease 119-73not60

§1505 Unlicensed Services in Guard Bands

Title 47 › Chapter 14— MAKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR BROADBAND INVESTMENT AND LIMITING EXCESSIVE AND NEEDLESS OBSTACLES TO WIRELESS › § 1505

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

After public notice and comment and after consulting Commerce and affected federal agencies, the FCC must make rules allowing unlicensed use of guard bands to protect spectrum auctioned after March 23, 2018, including duplex gaps. The FCC may not allow any guard-band use that causes harmful interference to licensed or federal services. They may also make other spectrum available for licensed or unlicensed use, including under section 1502.

Full Legal Text

Title 47, §1505

Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)After public notice and comment, and in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and the head of each affected Federal agency (or a designee thereof), with respect to frequencies allocated for Federal use, the Commission shall adopt rules that permit unlicensed services where feasible to use any frequencies that are designated as guard bands to protect frequencies allocated after March 23, 2018, by competitive bidding under section 309(j) of this title, including spectrum that acts as a duplex gap between transmit and receive frequencies.

(b)The Commission may not permit any use of a guard band under this section that would cause harmful interference to a licensed service or a Federal service.

(c)Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the Commission or the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information from otherwise making spectrum available for licensed or unlicensed use in any frequency band in addition to guard bands, including under section 1502 of this title, consistent with their statutory jurisdictions.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

47 U.S.C. § 1505

Title 47 — Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60