FCC Seeking Administrator to Oversee Parts of Incentive Auction Repacking
The FCC is looking for an outside contractor to oversee parts of the broadcaster repacking after the TV incentive auction, FCC officials confirm. The agency quietly released a request for solicitations last month. FCC officials said Tuesday numerous groups are focused on repacking, but no changes to the rules are pending, especially with the auction to formally start March 29. Meanwhile, a T-Mobile engineer said in a blog post Tuesday the carrier is more convinced than that the repacking can be completed within the 39 months mandated by the FCC.
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The FCC installed a transition administrator (TA) in late 2004 to oversee the 800 MHz rebanding, a much larger transition, selecting a team led by consultant BearingPoint, which included law firm Squire, Sanders. The 800 MHz TA was selected after a public solicitation. That transition, aimed at eliminating public safety interference problems in the 800 MHz band, is still a work in progress more than a decade after it started.
The relocation fund administrator would apparently help manage the paperwork of the transition, but the FCC is setting itself up as the final arbiter if there are disagreements between broadcasters, who are moving, and companies taking possession of the 600 MHz spectrum, industry officials said. MVPDs that reasonably incur costs to continue to carry the signals of licensees reassigned to new channels due to the reverse auction or repacking also are eligible for reimbursement. The 800 MHz TA has had to address a number of fights, though the FCC made the ultimate call when parties disagree about reimbursements.
“There’s a lot of activity at the FCC” on repacking, said a carrier executive. “They are doing a lot of preparatory work.” The executive said repacking is going to probably be more complicated than the FCC expects. There were lots of delays around the 800 MHz transition, the executive noted. An FCC official said Tuesday transition work is well under way as meetings with industry continue.
A “Statement of Work” released by the FCC on the relocation administrator said the contractor would assist the FCC in a number of areas: “(1) Strategic Planning and Analysis, (2) Processing Payment Requests, (3) Communications and Outreach, (4) Data Management, Analytics, and Reporting, (5) Business Process Management, (6) Program Compliance, and (7) Program Management,” the document said.
Steve Sharkey, T-Mobile vice president-government affairs, said in a blog post Tuesday that T-Mobile believes the transition can be completed on schedule and at below the $1.75 billion budget. Sharkey pointed to a recent study T-Mobile funded by Hammett & Edison and Broadcast Tower Technologies, which drew that conclusion (see 1602180063).
“While much of the attention has been on the 600 MHz auction itself, consumers won’t benefit from the newly available spectrum until the remaining broadcasters clear the spectrum by transitioning to a new band plan,” Sharkey wrote. “We are very encouraged by the enthusiastic broadcast industry response to our experts’ inquiries, and are more confident than ever that the transition can be done on time and on budget. We will continue our dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure a smooth and timely transition that everyone will be able to support.” Sharkey didn't specifically mention NAB, which has raised concerns about the repacking. NAB and AT&T have warned the FCC of possible chaos unless the FCC gets the process right (see 1603210038).
Friday's public notice by the FCC showed a large number of individuals and smaller entities that have signed up to participate in the auction, said a broadcast industry lawyer. “To the extent the commission continues to put this important issue off, it runs the risk of misleading these bidders in particular, who no doubt are under the impression that they'll be ready to go as soon as their licenses are granted,” the lawyer said.