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In pushing for incentive spectrum auctions, “I sort of wish...

In pushing for incentive spectrum auctions, “I sort of wish we had started with satellite spectrum,” rather than broadcast TV, FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker told the NAB show in Las Vegas. She participated in a Q-and-A late Tuesday with NAB…

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President Gordon Smith. “I think that would have been a better proof of concept,” Baker said. Broadcasters “deserve more details” about what will happen if voluntary incentive auctions for TV spectrum occur, she said. “Mobile television is really starting to take off.” The agency should take a long-term view about what broadcasters will be able to do with their spectrum, she said. “I understand your frustration.” The commission should proceed with its review of media ownership rules and probably look at them in the context of its spectrum reallocation goals, Baker said. “I think they need to take into account the whole picture,” she said. “If we are going to ask a player to remove themselves from a market,” the regulator should also look at how that would implicate duopoly rules and other ownership limits, she said. The commission should also look at ways beyond spectrum auctions to spur innovation, Baker said. “We need to look at a much broader picture.” Incentive auctions should be one tool in a larger toolbox, she said. That could include giving broadcasters more technical flexibility to use advanced compression and transmission systems, she said. “MPEG-4 has a lot of promise” for broadcasting, she said. Baker also encouraged broadcasters to work with the FCC on incentive auctions. “I think these discussions shouldn’t be acrimonious, and I'm sorry it started that way.” There is some evidence to suggest that FM receivers are making their way into cellphones and consumers who want those devices will be able to get them, Baker said. “There’s some evidence that the market is working and there will be cellphones with radios.” Baker said she doesn’t support mandates that would require FM chips in cellphones.