Detroit broadcasters could be harmed by voluntary incentive auctions, warned House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, D-Mich. “I am concerned that possible future spectrum auctions” and repacking by the federal government “have the potential to affect the ability of local Detroit broadcasters to operate in our community,” said Conyers. “While I agree that first responders must have enough spectrum and funds to roll out a national communications network for public safety, we must also ensure that local broadcasters are not harmed in this process.” Conyers plans to talk to the FCC and other members of Congress about his concerns, he said.
A nascent proposal for TV stations to act as broadband content delivery mechanisms (CD Oct 14 p14) for Internet Protocol traffic drew skepticism on technical and policy grounds from some industries whose support may be necessary for the proposal to succeed. Wireless companies, who want the FCC to voluntarily auction some broadcaster spectrum to free up frequencies for mobile broadband, declined to back the parts of the plan unveiled Thursday (http://xrl.us/bmgm8e) by the Coalition for Free TV and Broadband. An engineer who has worked for carriers and TV stations and a lawyer for full-power TV broadcasters told us the plan may face economic and equipment hurdles. Proponents said the economic analysis they paid for to show their plan would raise more money for the U.S. than an auction will be complete in a week, and standards for carriers to send traffic broadcasters’ way don’t fully exist.
The Senate Commerce Committee recommended the Spectrum Act (S-911) for inclusion in legislation by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Congressional committee recommendations to the super committee were due Friday. Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said that S-911 “provides significant short-term and long-term benefits to our Nation’s fiscal health, economic and job growth, and public safety.” The bill, which would authorize voluntary incentive auctions and reallocate the 700 MHz D-block to public safety, was estimated by the Congressional Budget Office to raise $6.5 billion for deficit reduction. But Rockefeller and Hutchison said in their letter that they would work with the super committee “on possible ways to amend S. 911 to provide $10 billion in deficit reduction, without compromising rural build out for public safety officials.” House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on Thursday similarly urged the super committee to authorize spectrum auctions and reallocate the D-block (CD Oct 14 p12). That committee’s chairman, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., is a member of the super committee and has said he doesn’t plan to submit Commerce Committee recommendations. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., also urged D-block reallocation and a national public safety network in his committee’s recommendations. King said his HR-607 “represents the type of balanced approach that the Joint Select Committee should actively pursue, one that combines an immediate public safety initiative with good governance cost savings."
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., sent his letter Thursday urging spectrum auctions (CD Oct 13 p12) and reallocation of the 700 MHz D-block to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. He’s ranking member of the House Commerce Committee. Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., has said he doesn’t plan to send his own recommendations to the super committee, of which he is a member.
The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction should consider spectrum auctions, said House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif. In a draft letter to the super committee circulating among Democratic Commerce Committee members this week, Waxman said the super committee “should consider new spectrum auctions as a mechanism to create jobs and raise significant revenue for deficit reduction.” The letter was circulated to Democratic members for input, but the letter hadn’t been finalized or sent to the super committee as of Wednesday morning. Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., a super committee member, won’t be sending recommendations to the super committee, an Upton spokesman said. Congress should give the FCC authority to conduct voluntary incentive auctions “to efficiently and responsibly repurpose broadcast and other spectrum for wireless broadband uses,” either through the super committee’s recommendations or separate legislation, Waxman said in his draft letter. Legislation also should “direct the Administration to identify any federal spectrum that can be utilized more efficiently and reallocated for auction or shared use,” he said. Some of the auction revenue should fund a national network for public safety, and the super committee should give the 700 MHz D-block to public safety, he said. Waxman estimated that even with money for the network, auctions would result in a net savings of $15 billion. Upton has been in regular contact with committee members “seeking their input on opportunities to reduce the deficit, and that feedback will help inform the Joint Select Committee’s work,” a GOP committee aide said. “Members wishing to provide more formal recommendations have an opportunity to do so, and we expect members will continue to provide input and support for the Joint Select Committee as it moves forward without the need for a formal committee submission.”
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is “not optimistic” Democratic senators will support Republicans’ Congressional Review Act effort to kill FCC net neutrality rules, the ranking member of the Communications Subcommittee said Wednesday. Until the election, DeMint hopes to “minimize the damage” of the Democratic-controlled Senate and executive branch, he said. In other speeches also at a Free State Foundation event, Reps. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., also railed against regulation. Stearns supported the FCC effort to revamp the Universal Service Fund, but said Congress should take the next steps of revamping USF contribution rules and updating the 1996 Telecom Act.
Friday’s spectrum letter by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction “confirms” MF Global’s view that the super committee will take up spectrum auctions in its legislation due this Thanksgiving, MF Global analyst Paul Gallant said in a research note Monday. The letter (CD Oct 11 p4) likely was “aimed at nudging the Administration to repurpose the 1755-1850 MHz band for commercial wireless service” as a proposal in an upcoming NTIA report due in the next three weeks, he said. The spectrum, which has been much lobbied for by the telecom industry, is currently used by the Defense Department and other federal agencies. “We believe the NTIA report will support repurposing of 1755-1850 MHz, but probably over a longer timeframe, possibly 5-10 years,” Gallant said. “However, we also expect the report to say that the specific band most coveted by wireless operators -- 1755-1780 MHz -- could be used in five years, subject to certain engineering limitations, and could be auctioned in perhaps 2-3 years.” That’s a longer timeframe than some would like, but is still good news for the industry, Gallant said. The House Communications Subcommittee had planned to mark up spectrum legislation last week, but postponed the vote. “No date has been set for a markup,” a spokeswoman said Tuesday. Under full committee rules, 48-hour notice must be given prior to a markup. Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., has said he wants to pass a bill by year-end.
Four members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction Friday asked President Barack Obama to instruct the Office of Management and Budget to identify more federal spectrum below 3 GHz that could be reallocated for wireless broadband. Special attention should be given to identifying “paired, internationally-harmonized spectrum ... in sufficient block sizes to support mobile broadband services within the next 10 years,” the letter said. The four ask Obama to respond by Oct. 14.
Some contraction of TV stations’ footprints as part of voluntary broadcast spectrum auctions is a possible and acceptable scenario, said Sherrese Smith, an aide to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Speaking for herself and not the FCC, Smith was responding to concerns for the voluntary auction process raised by Marcellus Alexander, president National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation. He said the voluntary incentive auction process may significantly lessen the reach of broadcasters who don’t choose to auction of their spectrum. They spoke during a National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications panel at NCTA Thursday night.
Three thousand TV stations that aren’t full service upped their lobbying in Washington this week. Translator and low-power TV station executives said they want those outlets to be held harmless in any voluntary incentive auction the FCC may hold to shift broadcast spectrum to wireless broadband. They want rules changed so LPTV and translator stations can offer broadband themselves, as a secondary service to TV. There haven’t been concrete results yet from the stepped-up lobbying, which also includes the FCC, though some aides to legislators were open to parts of the proposal. The CTIA, which has attacked the efforts in the past, again criticized them. And the low-power proponents said they may not get much of what they want.