Legislation to reauthorize the FCC, boost mobile broadband and provide additional funds, as needed, for broadcasters' moves to new spectrum in the post-incentive auction repack has been included in the must-pass omnibus spending bill scheduled for a vote this week, which must pass by Friday to avoid another government shutdown.

The RAY BAUM Act (which incorporated Sen. John Thune's MOBILE NOW Act) that made it onto the bill differs slightly from the one that passed the House earlier this month, according to a Hill source.

Those changes are:

Language was added from the Senate-passed version of the MOBILE NOW Act to "streamline broadband infrastructure siting on federal lands and accelerate the availability of funds from the Spectrum Relocation Fund to clear spectrum sooner." The MOBILE NOW Act makes sure that the FCC makes mid-band spectrum available for commercial use by 2020. It both promotes making more next-gen 5G wireless spectrum available and reduce obstacles to building out networks.

Another change is language that "clarifies" the incentive auction shortfall funding (which only triggers if, as the FCC expects, the $1.75 billion auction repack fund runs out of funds before broadcasters run out of moving expenses, and "removes a requirement regarding the submission of certain FCC budget estimates and other documents to Congress."

The broadcaster shortfall funding in the bill breaks down this way, according to the National Association of Broadcasters: $600 million more will be available for the repack fund in FY 2018, with up to $350 million for full-power stations, up to $150 million for low-power TV stations and translators, up to $50 million for radio and $50 million for consumer education. There will be an added $400 million in for FY 2019."

“NAB welcomes the omnibus appropriations bill’s inclusion of RAY BAUM'S Act along with funding that fully and fairly reimburses broadcasters for their spectrum repack relocation expenses," said NAB. "We urge immediate passage of this omnibus legislation and look forward to a repack process that holds harmless TV broadcasters, local radio stations and the tens of millions of Americans who rely on our services every day."

The FCC will be reauthorized for the first time in 28 years

The bill includes $7.5 million for the National Telecommunications & Information Administration "to coordinate broadband mapping across the Federal government," with NTIA taking the lead, according to Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. The FCC has been doing the broadband mapping since NTIA ran out of money in 2015.

“I’m also incredibly proud to see inclusion of the RAY BAUM’S Act, legislation named after my dear friend and former Energy and Commerce staff director," said Walden.

Also in the omnibus bill is $600 million for rural broadband via a pilot program administered by the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), according to NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association. President Donald Trump has said that rural broadband deployment is a priority. “We are excited by the promise of the resources provided within the omnibus and the prospect of continuing our members’ work with RUS," said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield.

One bill provision that is key to freeing up more spectrum is a "fix" allowing the FCC "to deposit upfront payments from spectrum bidders directly with the U.S. Treasury," without which the FCC would be unable to conduct future spectrum auctions.

Senate Commerce Committee chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) said that, in concert with ranking member Bill Nelson (R-Fla.), he is putting the finishing touches on his bill to boost development of 5G wireless broadband service at potentially multiple-gigabit speeds, in competition to cable broadband.

Speaking at a CTIA 5G conference in Washington Tuesday (Feb. 9), Thune said he has been working on a new draft of the Mobile Now (Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless) Act, which he hoped to be able to introduce later this week.

The bill has been in the works for a while, but was pulled from a planned markup last fall.

He said the bill would "insure that hundreds of megahertz of spectrum would be made available for commercial use by 2020," which he pointed out was about the same time the 5G standard could be rolled out. He said the bill would "cut through much of the bureaucratic red tape that makes it difficult to build wireless facilities on federal properties." It would also "direct the FCC to streamline regulations affecting small-cell networks."

Thune said that perhaps most importantly, the bill would push the FCC to examine millimeter wave (high-frequency bands) to determine which are most useful for 5 G. He said those would be the most critical for delivering the multi-gigabit high speed broadband service.

He pointed out that Starry is already planning millimeter wave, high-speed wireless broadband service using current gen technology.

Thune talked loftily about the possibilities of high-speed wireless broadband, saying that to him, 5G did not mean as-yet unwritten tech specs, but a not too distant future in which "unbridled activity meets nearly unbounded capacity unlocking limitless possibility."

He suggested the FCC should clear away regulatory obstacles rather than regulate as though wireless were not a growing competitor to wired cable.

But Thune said the days of easy spectrum are over, and that Congress was going to have to do some heavy lifting going forward rather than picking bands of underutilized spectrum and auctioning them for tens of billions of dollars.

He said he could not exaggerate how much more difficult it will be to identify new bands of spectrum for broadband.

Thune said the bill would build on last year’s Spectrum Pipeline Act and that while 5G may be years away, incremental steps toward it must be taken now.

Thune said there is work in the House on a wireless spectrum bill and they should be able to combine those efforts.