[opendtv] News: FCC Floats Cash-For-TV-Spectrum Scheme
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:55:36 -0400
http://www.tvnewscheck.com/articles/2009/10/21/daily.4/
TVNEWSCHECK FOCUS ON WASHINGTON
FCC Floats Cash-For-TV-Spectrum Scheme
By Kim McAvoy
TVNewsCheck, Oct 21 2009, 9:16 AM ET
FCC broadband czar Blair Levin earlier this month met with leading TV
broadcasters in Washington to discuss the nation's urgent need for
more spectrum for wireless broadband access to the Internet and the
possibility of broadcasters' relinquishing most of their spectrum to
help meet that demand.
According to sources familiar with the Oct. 8 meeting with the board
of the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV), Levin
suggested broadcasters might want to consider returning their
spectrum in exchange for a share in the billions of dollars that
would come from the auction of the spectrum to the wireless industry.
Story continues after the ad
Broadcasting would retain just enough spectrum so that each station
could provide a lifeline standard-definition service to the millions
of TV viewers who still rely on over-the-air reception.
Broadcasters could no longer offer over-the-air HD and second
channels and mobile video would be off the table, but they could
continue to provide a single channel of TV to every home in their
markets as they do today - in full-blown HD via cable and satellite
carriage and SD via the over-the-air lifeline service.
Broadcasters considered the idea at the MSTV meeting and at the board
meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters last week in
Dallas.
Although some were intrigued by the possibility of cashing in on
their spectrum, the consensus was that broadcasters should hang on to
it and move ahead with plans on monetizing it further through
multicasting and mobile video.
"On the surface, it just doesn't have any great appeal," says Paul
Karpowicz, president of the Meredith Broadcast Group and NAB TV board
chairman.
TV stations have made a tremendous investment in new digital
transmission facilities and HDTV and are spending more to bring
mobile DTV and other digital services to market, he says.
"From our perspective, we'd like to hold on to the spectrum we've got
and develop it."
Jim Goodmon, president of Capitol Broadcasting and an MSTV board
member, is also saying no thanks to the cash-for-spectrum plan. "The
notion that somehow we are going to turn in our spectrum is
completely foreign to me.
"I am not saying I am against what the FCC's trying to do. They do
need more spectrum, but, if it's broadcasters' spectrum, that's not
the right place to get it."
The Levin initiative also touched off concern among the broadcasters
that the cash-for-spectrum plan, presented by Levin as voluntary, may
turn into a government mandate if the wireless and computer
industries and broadband advocacy groups get behind it.
And some fear that, voluntary or not, broadcasters would somehow get
cut out of the spectrum auction proceeds.
As a result, sources say, NAB allied with the broadcast networks and
they are now mobilizing to protect the broadcast spectrum. "It may
well be the fight of a lifetime," says one TV industry representative.
Levin is a former top-level FCC official during the Clinton
administration called back by new FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to
formulate a comprehensive plan for making broadband Internet access
available to all.
In a speech in Washington in August, Levin warned that the FCC was
interested in finding more spectrum for the cause. "This is already
clear from the record: A key input is spectrum and everybody agrees
there is not enough of it. Moreover, demand curves from new uses by
smart phones suggest a massive increase in demand ahead for that
input."
In one of his first major policy speeches, at a meeting of wireless
phone operators under the aegis of CTIA in San Diego on Oct. 7,
Genachowski declared that "the biggest threat to the future of mobile
in America is the looming spectrum crisis."
"As this audience knows, it takes years to reallocate spectrum and
put it to use," he said. "And there are no easy pickings on the
spectrum chart.
"But we have no choice. We must identify spectrum that can best be
reinvested in mobile broadband."
Levin declined to discuss any specifics about his meeting with MSTV
members, saying only that he met "with a number of different
broadcasters discussing a number of spectrum-related issues."
But he underscored his purpose: "The record is pretty clear that
America, if it wants to be ready for the mobile broadband future, is
going to need more spectrum."
A growing number of academics and policy experts believe that
broadcasting is an inefficient use of spectrum, especially given that
TV stations now reach most of their audiences via cable or satellite.
Tom Hazlett, a professor of law and economics at George Mason
University and former chief economist at the FCC, has been a longtime
and articulate advocate of putting broadcast spectrum to better use.
In an open letter to Genachowski published in the Financial Times
last June, Hazlett suggested that the FCC bounce broadcasters from
their spectrum - "they're just cluttering it up" - and auction it off
to the highest bidder. Based on past auctions, he figures the auction
of some 300 Mhz of broadcast spectrum would bring in up to $75
billion.
"Funny thing is, the stations don't care about broadcasting their
signals anymore, either," he says. "That's expensive and wastes
fossil-fuel generated electricity. Bad for the environment and it
pollutes the most beautiful radio spectrum on God's Green Earth."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts: