Estimates Vary on How Much it Could Cost Stations to Repack the TV Band
As the FCC seeks authority from Congress to do incentive spectrum auctions to clear part of the TV band, little consensus seems to exist about how much it will cost to move the remaining TV stations onto new channels and make room for wireless broadband services. On the lower end of estimates, CTIA and CEA projected in February it would cost about $565 million to move the stations, citing NTIA data that the cost of buying and installing a new antenna and transmitter would be $898,000 per station. But NAB has told the FCC it will cost the industry roughly $2.5 billion. And legislation in the Senate would set aside $1 billion for repacking costs, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Broadcast technical consultants we interviewed also had a range of estimates for the costs, but they were reluctant to extrapolate what the entire cost of repacking could be because so many variables remain. “So much of it depends on what the commission will do,” said consultant Merrill Weiss.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The ultimate repacking costs depend on the success of the planned incentive auctions. The more stations that sell their spectrum, the fewer remain to repack. But even on an individual station analysis, costs vary because each station’s situation is unique. “Just as a rule of thumb, I would say between $1 million and $3 million” cost per station, said Don Everist, an engineer with Cohen Dippel Everist.
Several elements would go into changing a TV station’s frequency, consultants said. Transmission lines, antennas, mask filters, combiners and transmitters all could need to be replaced or retooled depending on the situation, they said. Some parts may be reusable, but some may not, they said. According to the NAB, even a minor change in a transmitter could cost $100,000, while a new transmitter could cost $750,000. And new combiners, which are used when stations share antennas, and mask filters could each cost as much as $300,000. And the costs of reinforcing a tower or even building a new one for a larger antenna could reach $1.8 million, it said.
A lot depends on what frequencies the stations will move to, consultants said. That has become a point of contention among the FCC and some in Congress and the broadcast industry (CD Aug 17 p1). If stations are moved from UHF frequencies to VHF frequencies, the cost per station could be higher, they said. Most antennas are typically capable of broadcasting in a range of just two or three channels, and even broadband antennas have a limited range, Weiss said. So a station that’s transmitting on the higher end of the UHF band probably won’t be able to use the same antenna on a VHF channel. He estimated the costs per station could reach more than $1 million if it needs a new transmitter.
Repacking the TV band may require rewriting the DTV table of allotments from scratch, said Doug Vernier, a broadcast engineering consultant. “It’s like a house of cards,” he said. “The system is set up on a first-come-first-served basis and these stations have popped up in different locations and cities. If you start moving the frequencies, you've got a whole new ballgame,” he said.
If towers need to be relocated to avoid interference on new channel assignments, that could substantially boost costs, particularly west of the Mississippi where the population is far less dense and there are fewer tall buildings to put broadcast towers on, Vernier said. “A lot of rural communities have very tall towers, as high as 2,000 feet,” he said. “If they can leave them where they are, we can reduce the cost, but if those have to be moved that’s a tremendous cost.”