NAB Offers Duplex Gap Compromise
NAB offered a concession on the controversial FCC proposal to put some TV stations in the “duplex gap” between uplink and downlink frequencies bought by carriers in the TV incentive auction (see 1507130054). “It is important to pursue every avenue of possible consensus,” NAB told the FCC Tuesday. The future of the gap is a hot topic as the agency wraps up incentive auction rules for the auction slated to start March 29.
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The letter picks up on a statement by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler at the news conference after the agency’s July 16 meeting that the commission is seeking to put broadcasters in the gap in just six markets. NAB said it's willing to concede those six markets as long they aren't major population centers. “To avoid crippling unlicensed services and the ability of newsgatherers to effectively report breaking news, no more than one of those impaired markets should be among the Top 25,” NAB said. “Limiting the six impairments primarily to markets outside the Top 25 is consistent with the staff simulations released publicly on July 10. This approach gives the Commission the flexibility it seeks in setting the initial spectrum clearing target.”
NAB also asked for a concession. The FCC also should find that once a clearing target is established, the agency may not add “any new television impairments in the wireless band, whether it be to the guard bands, duplex gap or downlink/uplink,” NAB said. If a station drops out of the auction and cannot be repacked in the broadcast part of the band “the Commission must buy that station at its last accepted price,” the broadcast association proposed. “This approach will enhance the auction by lessening 600 MHz band impairments and creating more unimpaired paired spectrum for the forward auction.”
NAB said it would still prefer that the FCC stuck to its “original commitment” and kept broadcasters out of the duplex gap. But the proposed compromise “meets all of the Commission’s goals,” NAB said. “It allows the FCC to achieve a high clearing target with the six markets it seeks to impair, while maximizing broadcaster participation and protecting, for the most part, unlicensed and licensed wireless microphone operations. It also avoids the pitfalls of other potential solutions that sacrifice one service for another or that uniformly diminishes each of them.”
"This is the NAB taking Chairman Wheeler at his word and saying, ‘Fine, do what you want to do but not more, get it over and let's keep going,'” said Roger Entner, analyst at Recon Analytics. “What we don't know is if there are more issues than what has already been publicly addressed.” Wireless industry groups and companies declined to comment Tuesday. Some response could come later in the week, industry officials told us.
It's “important to pursue every avenue of possible consensus,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge. PK also has fought to keep TV stations out of the gap. “It is also the case that it is better not to put a broadcaster in the duplex gap at all, rather than to put one in the duplex gap and mitigate the damage,” he said. “We recognize that there are many competing goals that need to be balanced. That's why it is important for the commission and stakeholders to continue to analyze all the proposals carefully.”