Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and RadiotelegraphsRelease 119-110

§1509 Spectrum Challenge Prize

Title 47 › CHAPTER 14 — MAKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR BROADBAND INVESTMENT AND LIMITING EXCESSIVE AND NEEDLESS OBSTACLES TO WIRELESS › § 1509

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Creates the Spectrum Challenge Prize Act and requires the Secretary of Commerce to run prize competitions to speed up building and selling cheaper technology that uses radio spectrum more efficiently. The Secretary must work with the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and the Under Secretary for Standards and Technology, and only do this if money is available. The contests must have clear, measurable goals so entries can be judged fairly and must push beyond current technology. Prize competition: a contest run by the Secretary under this program. The Secretary may hire private groups to run the contests, ask other federal agencies for help (for example DARPA, the Commission, NASA, or NSF), and give no more than $5,000,000 total in prizes. The Commission must publish a technical paper with design criteria within 180 days after contest funds are provided. Congress may appropriate whatever funds are needed.

Full Legal Text

Title 47, §1509

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

(a)Short title

This section may be cited as the “Spectrum Challenge Prize Act”.

(b)Definition of prize competition

In this section, the term “prize competition” means a prize competition conducted by the Secretary under subsection (c)(1).

(c)Spectrum Challenge Prize

(1)In general

The Secretary, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, shall, subject to the availability of funds for prize competitions under this section— (A)

(B)define a measurable set of performance goals for participants in the prize competitions to demonstrate their solutions on a level playing field while making a significant advancement over the current state of the art.

(2)Authority of Secretary

In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary may—

(A)enter into a grant, contract, cooperative agreement, or other agreement with a private sector for-profit or nonprofit entity to administer the prize competitions;

(B)invite the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Commission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, or any other Federal agency to provide advice and assistance in the design or administration of the prize competitions; and

(C)award not more than $5,000,000, in the aggregate, to the winner or winners of the prize competitions.

(d)Criteria

Not later than 180 days after the date on which funds for prize competitions are made available pursuant to this section, the Commission shall publish a technical paper on spectrum efficiency providing criteria that may be used for the design of the prize competitions.

(e)Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

47 U.S.C. § 1509

Title 47, Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110