ITS: The Nation’s Spectrum and Communications Lab
Our mission is to ADVANCE innovation in communications technologies, INFORM spectrum and communications policy for the benefit of all stakeholders, and INVESTIGATE our Nation’s most pressing telecommunications challenges through research that employees are proud to deliver.
News
August 20, 2025
Hurry! Postings close 8/27/2025!
ITS has new vacancies for four computer scientists and one electronics technician to help solve the Nation’s most challenging spectrum and communications challenges. These full-time positions are based on the...
February 25, 2025
Adam Hicks (l.) and Robert Achatz (r.) prepare to leave for McMurdo Station. (Photo credit: USAP)
In December 2024, ITS electronics engineers Robert Achatz and Adam Hicks travelled from ITS’s Boulder laboratory...
January 6, 2025
To make the most efficient use of available bandwidth, how much can speech and video be compressed before the end user perceives them as degraded? ITS’s Audio Quality...
Recent Publications
-
Robert J. Achatz, Adam C. Hicks, Sarah L. Vasel, and Ryan S. McCullough, “2024 McMurdo Area Radio Noise Measurements and Analysis,” Technical Report NTIA TR 25-579, September 2025
The Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) performed high frequency (HF) band (3-30 MHz) radio noise power measurements at six locations in the McMurdo Station (MS), Antarctica (AQ), area and one location at the Black Island Telecommunicatio...
-
Margaret H. Pinson et al., “Test Plans, Results, and Lessons Learned About Open RAN Integration During the NTIA 5G Challenges,” Special Publication NTIA SP-25-578, April 2025
The vision of the 5G Challenge competitions was to accelerate adoption of 5G open interfaces, interoperable subsystems, and multi-vendor solutions by fostering a large, vibrant, and growing vendor community dedicated to advancing 5G interoperability...
This Month in ITS History
September 1952: NBS Chief Called Before House Un-American Activities Committee
On September 5, 1952 Ed Condon, former chief of the National Bureau of Standards, made his second appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) at the behest of Senator Richard Vail. Condon had made political enemies on the committee with his unapologetic demands for...