PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Aug 1, 2008
Open Wireless Internet Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promote nationwide broadband competition through the use of wireless services by issuing nationwide licenses, for a term of at least 15 years, for two bands of frequencies, each composed of 20 megahertz of unpaired contiguous spectrum, one band under 3 gigahertz and not part of the recovered analog spectrum and the other band between 2155 and 2180 megahertz.
Requires the FCC to ensure that licensees of spectrum obtained under these provisions are fully protected from, and fully protect, licensees of adjacent spectrum from harmful interference, including receiver overload and excessive out-of-band emissions.
Requires licensees, among other things, to offer to consumers and authorized public safety users, without subscription, airtime, usage, or other charges, a data service that is faster than 200 kilobits per second, allows users to access any lawful content of their choice, and has an option that prevents underage users from accessing obscene or indecent material. Requires congressional approval before modification of any of these requirements takes effect.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Requires a separate rule-making or other procedures for licensing through auction additional unpaired contiguous spectrum of 20 megahertz below 3 gigahertz, but states that the auction shall be conducted without the conditions specified in the immediately preceding paragraph unless the FCC finds it is in the public interest.
People & committees
Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] · D–OR
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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