The Claim

Expanded spectrum access through FCC action, lowering wireless phone plan costs.

The Claim, Unpacked

What is literally being asserted?

Two linked assertions: (1) that the FCC expanded spectrum access during the first year of the Trump administration, and (2) that this expansion lowered wireless phone plan costs for consumers.

What is being implied but not asserted?

That presidential action caused the FCC’s spectrum moves. That wireless costs went down because of this administration’s policies. That the cost reduction is a new phenomenon attributable to these specific actions. That consumers are experiencing meaningfully lower bills as a direct result.

What is conspicuously absent?

That wireless telephone service costs have been declining at an average rate of approximately 2.7% per year for nearly three decades — across Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump (first term), and Biden administrations. That the FCC’s spectrum auction authority had lapsed in March 2023 and was not restored until July 4, 2025, via the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — meaning for the first five and a half months of the administration, the FCC could not conduct new auctions. That as of January 20, 2026, no new spectrum auctions had actually been completed — the first auction (AWS-3) was not scheduled until June 2, 2026. That the FCC is an independent agency whose chairman is appointed by the president but whose regulatory actions are not directed by the White House. That the wireless cost decline in 2025 (-1.20%) was smaller than in many prior years, including 2017 (-10.68%), 2018 (-2.55%), and 2019 (-2.53%).

Evidence Assessment

Established Facts

The FCC took spectrum-related regulatory actions in 2025, including proposing new spectrum sharing frameworks and initiating rulemaking proceedings. In February 2025, the FCC voted to begin the process for reauctioning AWS-3 spectrum licenses. In April 2025, the FCC opened 600 MHz in the lower 37 GHz band for fixed wireless and IoT. In May 2025, the FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to unlock more than 20,000 MHz of spectrum for satellite broadband. In October-November 2025, the FCC advanced rulemaking on Upper C-band spectrum auction of up to 180 MHz. [^132-a1]

The FCC’s general spectrum auction authority had lapsed on March 9, 2023, and was not restored until July 4, 2025, when the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law. This was the first time in the FCC’s 30-year auction history that the authority had lapsed. During the 27-month lapse (March 2023 to July 2025), the FCC could not auction new spectrum bands. The OBBBA restored authority through September 30, 2034, and mandated a pipeline of 800 MHz of spectrum for auction. The first actual auction under the restored authority — AWS-3 — was not scheduled until June 2, 2026. [^132-a2]

Wireless telephone service costs have been declining for nearly three decades, with an average annual deflation rate of approximately -2.7%. BLS CPI data (series CUUR0000SEED03) shows the wireless telephone services index fell from 100 in December 1997 to approximately 46.5 in 2025 — a cumulative decline of about 55%. The 2025 decline was -1.20%, following -1.49% in 2024, -0.32% in 2023, and -0.45% in 2022. The broader telephone services CPI (CUUR0000SEED) stood at 91.3 as of January 2026, below its December 1997 baseline of 100. This structural deflationary trend in wireless services reflects technological advancement, market competition, and economies of scale — not policy intervention by any single administration. [^132-a3]

As of the January 20, 2026 claim date, no new spectrum auctions had been completed under the restored authority. The FCC set the AWS-3 auction date for June 2, 2026 — more than four months after the claim was published. The Upper C-band auction was targeted for July 2027. The spectrum actions taken in 2025 consisted of regulatory proceedings (NPRMs, sharing framework adjustments, and band openings for unlicensed/shared use), not completed auctions that would add commercial wireless capacity. [^132-a4]

Strong Inferences

The causal link between FCC spectrum actions and consumer wireless costs is weak to nonexistent for the period in question. Spectrum auctions and reallocations typically take years to translate into consumer-facing wireless service changes. Carriers must acquire licenses, deploy infrastructure, and integrate new spectrum into their networks before consumers see any benefit. Since no new auctions had been completed by January 2026, and the regulatory proceedings were still in progress, the claim that FCC actions lowered wireless costs in this period is chronologically implausible. The wireless cost decline observed in 2025 is consistent with the pre-existing multi-decade trend. [^132-a5]

The FCC is an independent agency, complicating presidential attribution. The president appoints the FCC chairman, but the FCC’s regulatory decisions are made by its commissioners through administrative proceedings. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr himself stated in December 2025 that “the FCC is not formally an independent agency” — a claim at odds with the FCC’s statutory structure and historical practice. The Trump administration issued Executive Order “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies” asserting presidential authority over independent agencies, but this assertion is legally contested. [^132-a6]

What the Evidence Shows

The claim takes two real things — FCC spectrum regulatory activity and declining wireless costs — and draws a causal connection between them that the evidence does not support.

The FCC did take spectrum-related actions in 2025. These included opening the lower 37 GHz band, initiating rulemaking on the Upper C-band and AWS-3 auctions, and proposing satellite spectrum expansion. These are real regulatory proceedings that could eventually expand commercial spectrum access. But “expanded spectrum access” overstates what had actually been accomplished by January 2026. The major spectrum auctions had not yet occurred. The regulatory proceedings were still in the proposal and comment stages. The auction authority itself was only restored in July 2025 after a 27-month lapse.

The wireless cost decline is real but has nothing to do with these actions. Wireless telephone service costs have been falling at roughly 2.7% per year since 1997 — a structural feature of the wireless market driven by technology and competition. The 2025 decline of 1.20% was actually smaller than the average annual decline, and smaller than the declines in most recent years. No credible mechanism exists by which FCC actions in 2025 — mostly proposed rules and proceedings, with no completed auctions — could have lowered consumer wireless costs during the same year.

The Bottom Line

Steel-man: The administration, through FCC Chairman Carr, did initiate a substantial spectrum policy agenda in 2025. The OBBBA restored the FCC’s lapsed auction authority and established an ambitious 800 MHz spectrum pipeline. These are real policy achievements that could expand spectrum access over the coming decade.

But the claim as stated — that FCC action lowered wireless phone plan costs — conflates future-oriented policy proceedings with present-day consumer outcomes. Wireless costs have been falling for 28 years at a rate unrelated to any single administration’s spectrum policy. The 2025 decline was actually below the long-term average. And the major spectrum auctions that would genuinely expand access had not even occurred by the time the claim was published. This is a true premise (FCC took spectrum actions) married to a misleading conclusion (those actions lowered costs).