Spectrum Management: NTIA Planning and Processes Need Strengthening to Promote the Efficient Use of Spectrum by Federal Agencies

Radio frequency spectrum enables wireless communications services used by the federal government, businesses, and consumers, and NTIA is responsible for governmentwide federal spectrum management. In 2011, we reported that although spectrum is a scarce national resource that enables wireless communications services vital to the U.S. economy and to a variety of government functions, NTIA had not developed a strategic, governmentwide vision for managing federal use of this valuable resource. In particular, NTIA had not issued a national spectrum plan to address comprehensive federal and nonfederal spectrum needs as directed by the President in 2003. Instead, NTIA issued in 2008, a federal plan that had several limitations and did not identify governmentwide spectrum needs. Furthermore, NTIA's primary spectrum management operations did not focus on governmentwide needs and had a limited emphasis on holistic spectrum management. Lacking a strategic vision, NTIA could not ensure that spectrum is being used efficiently by federal agencies. Therefore, we recommended that NTIA develop a federal strategic plan. In October 2018, a Presidential memorandum required, among other things, that the Secretary of Commerce, working through NTIA and in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission and other agencies, submit to the President a long-term spectrum strategy. The long-term National Spectrum Strategy is to include legislative, regulatory, or other policy recommendations to increase spectrum access for all users, including on a shared basis, through transparency of spectrum use and improved cooperation and collaboration between federal and non-federal spectrum stakeholders. In August 2019, we confirmed that according to NTIA officials, NTIA developed the national spectrum strategy and delivered it to the White House in accordance with the 2018 Presidential memorandum. Reporting on federal agencies' spectrum allocation plans and efforts increases the transparency of NTIA spectrum management efforts.

NTIA is responsible for managing the federal government's use of spectrum. Federal agencies use spectrum for many purposes, such as emergency communications and national defense, and are supposed to ensure spectrum assignments fulfill established mission needs. The Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC)--an interagency committee of the federal government's primary spectrum users--is responsible for coordinating federal use of spectrum and providing NTIA policy advice on spectrum issues. In April 2011, we reported that NTIA requires federal agencies to review all their spectrum frequency assignments every 5 years and delete assignments not essential to their missions, but these reviews were often perfunctory. Moreover, NTIA had not established specific requirements for agencies to justify their needs and to validate and verify data used to evaluate their current and future spectrum needs. Consequently, NTIA had limited assurance that the data used to make spectrum management decisions were accurate. Given that verifying the information for each frequency assignment record could require significant agency resources, we determined that it would be beneficial for NTIA to consider options for a different approach to obtain critical assignment information from the agencies. We recommended that NTIA, in consultation with IRAC, examine the 5-year assignment review processes and consider best practices to determine if the current approach for collecting and validating data from federal agencies could be streamlined or improved. In May 2013, NTIA implemented process improvements to ensure that federal agencies review and validate their spectrum assignments on a more regular and timely basis. As part of the process improvements, NTIA informs agencies of their respective review dates, allowing the agencies time to prepare and submit the review of their assignments. Prior to an agency's 5-year assignment review submission due date, NTIA instructs the IRAC's Frequency Assignment Subcommittee to review the assignments to determine whether the agency's assignments should be renewed. For those agencies that have not submitted their 5-year assignment review, NTIA notifies them of their delinquent status. One year after notifying agencies of their delinquent status, the assignments not validated for renewal during the IRAC subcommittee reviews are considered to be expired and are removed from NTIA's federal spectrum management database. As a result of these process improvements, NTIA has established a structured means for reviewing spectrum assignments and removing outdated information from the federal spectrum management database. These process improvements will better enable NITA to coordinate spectrum usage among all federal agencies.

NTIA is responsible for managing the federal government's use of spectrum. In April 2011, we reported that NTIA collects spectrum data from federal agencies in an antiquated data management system that lacks transparency and internal controls. We noted that because NTIA did not have an internal control mechanism in place to validate and verify the accuracy of spectrum-related data submitted by the agencies, NTIA had limited assurance that agency-reported data were accurate and complete. At the time of our review, NTIA said it was developing a new data management system, called the Federal Spectrum Management System (FSMS), to modernize and improve spectrum management processes. We recommended that NTIA take interim steps to establish internal controls for management oversight of the accuracy and completeness of currently reported agency data, and in developing FSMS, incorporate adequate internal controls for validating the accuracy of agency-reported information submitted during the assignment, certification, and frequency assignment review processes. In response to this recommendation, NTIA took interim steps to help ensure it collected accurate and complete data on federal spectrum usage. In particular, as of May 2015, NTIA was in the process of (1) testing an automated tool (called the Equipment Location and Certification Database) that will support the electronic processing of spectrum certification requests to help validate the accuracy of agency-reported data; (2) hiring additional personnel for its Spectrum Services Division tasked to ensure quality control over the agency-reported data; and (3) awarding a contract to a professional electrical engineering services company to conduct a review of the spectrum certification process, analyze trends in the processing of requests for spectrum certification, and recommend improvements to the process. These interim steps should enhance NTIA's assurance that the agency-reported data that it collects are accurate and complete. Regarding FSMS, NTIA suspended its development while a federally-funded research and development center completes an independent technical assessment of the software code. NTIA plans to leverage the validated system requirements and the compliance-checking code already developed in any future automated federal spectrum management capabilities.