CBO Scores the Secure 5G And Beyond Act

The Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2019 (S. 893) would require the President, acting through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and other federal agencies, to develop and submit to the Congress a strategy to ensure the security of 5G and future generations wireless communications systems and infrastructure owned by the US and its allies. Among various other requirements, the NTIA would have to assess potential security threats to American 5G systems and infrastructure and analyze how competitive American 5G manufacturers and suppliers are globally.

Using information from the NTIA, CBO estimates that implementing S 893 would cost $1 million for the interagency group to formulate the strategy. Such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. CBO expects that NTIA would coordinate the interagency group and complete the strategy in 2020. The Federal Communications Commission would incur insignificant costs to help formulate the strategy. However, because the FCC is authorized under current law to collect fees sufficient to offset the appropriated costs of its regulatory activities each year, CBO estimates that the net cost to the FCC would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority. If the FCC increases annual fee collections to offset the costs of implementing provisions in the bill, S. 893 would increase the cost of an existing private-sector mandate on entities required to pay those fees. Using information from the FCC, CBO estimates that the incremental cost of the mandate would be small and would fall well below the annual threshold established in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) for private-sector mandates ($164 million in 2019, adjusted annually for inflation).