On December 27, 2020, the President signed the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act (T-Band Act) into law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The T-Band Act repeals section 6103 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which had mandated that the Commission reallocate and auction frequencies used by public safety eligibles in the 470-512 MHz spectrum band (T-Band Mandate).
In June 2020, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the above-captioned proceeding. The Commission adopted the T-Band NPRM as “the commencement of the process to meet each of the statutory deadlines and directives” in the T-Band Mandate. In initiating the rulemaking, the Commission noted that implementing the T-Band Mandate posed significant challenges and potential harm to first responder communications, and that multiple bills had been introduced in Congress to repeal the Mandate. The T-Band Act has now repealed the T-Band Mandate in its entirety, thus eliminating the statutory mandate to reallocate and auction T-Band spectrum occupied by public safety licensees. See Order for full details.