NAB Goes After CCA on Repacking
The Competitive Carriers Association repeatedly “mischaracterized” the FCC 39-month post-auction repacking deadline as being dictated by Congress, NAB said in a letter posted in docket 16-306 Tuesday. "In fact, nothing in the Spectrum Act speaks to the timeframe for repacking.…
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Rather, the Spectrum Act sets forth a time limitation in which the Commission may make reimbursements.” The statute gives the FCC three years after the auction to reimburse broadcasters for costs incurred during the repacking. CCA didn't comment. It had told the agency that antenna equipment makers were ramping up their work to prepare for the reshuffling of TV-station frequencies (see 1612090015). "As NAB correctly recognizes, the Spectrum Act expressly limits the reimbursement period to three years, and only Congress can change that," CCA President Steve Berry emailed. The carrier association has shown that ramp-up efforts "are pre-transition activities that can and should be done," he said. "Fortunately, the 39-month transition period has been deemed reasonable by Congress, the FCC and the Court of Appeals and facilitates reimbursement within the statute’s three-year limitation.”