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S 3420 110th Congress Senate

Open Wireless Internet Act

Official title: A bill to require the Federal Communications Commission to auction spectrum for a free and open access wireless service.

Introduced: August 1, 2008 Introduced by: Wyden, Ron Democratic · Oregon See on congress.gov
Science, Technology, Communications Administrative procedureAuctionsCommerceCongress
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Congressional oversightFamiliesFederal Communications CommissionGovernment Operations and PoliticsIndependent regulatory commissionsInternetLawPornographyRadio spectrum allocationWireless communication
This bill died when the 110th Congress ended
It never became law before the 110th Congress (2007–2008) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Aug 1, 2008
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Aug 1, 2008
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action August 1, 2008

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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.

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.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 3420: Open Wireless Internet Act. 110th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/110-S-3420/
MLA
"S. 3420: Open Wireless Internet Act." 110th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/110-S-3420/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 3420, 110th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/110-S-3420/.
Markdown link
[S. 3420: Open Wireless Internet Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/110-S-3420/)
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