---
kind: "section"
citation: "47 U.S.C. § 1505"
title: "47"
title_heading: "Telecommunications"
number: "1505"
heading: "Unlicensed services in guard bands"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/47/1505"
units:
  - "Chapter 14 — Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless"
---

# §1505. Unlicensed services in guard bands

- (a) **In general—** After public notice and comment, and in consultation with the Assistant [Secretary](/usc/47/1501.md?p=6) of Commerce for Communications and Information and the head of each affected Federal agency (or a designee thereof), with respect to frequencies allocated for Federal use, the [Commission](/usc/47/1501.md?p=2) shall adopt rules that permit unlicensed services where feasible to use any frequencies that are designated as guard bands to protect frequencies allocated after March 23, 2018, by competitive bidding under [section 309(j) of this title](/usc/47/309.md?p=j), including spectrum that acts as a duplex gap between transmit and receive frequencies.
- (b) **Limitation—** The [Commission](/usc/47/1501.md?p=2) may not permit any use of a guard band under this section that would cause harmful interference to a licensed service or a Federal service.
- (c) **Rule of construction—** Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the [Commission](/usc/47/1501.md?p=2) or the Assistant [Secretary](/usc/47/1501.md?p=6) of Commerce for Communications and Information from otherwise making spectrum available for licensed or unlicensed use in any frequency band in addition to guard bands, including under [section 1502 of this title](/usc/47/1502.md), consistent with their statutory jurisdictions.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 115–141, div. P, title VI, § 611, Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1109.)