There’s “tension” between raising money through spectrum auctions over the near term and long-term access to broadcast TV, aides to FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker were told at a private lunch last week hosted by the Association for Maximum Service Television, the group said. The ongoing media ownership review emphasizes the number of independent TV stations in a market, while the National Broadband Plan seeks to repurpose 120 MHz of such spectrum for wireless broadband, noted a filing posted Tuesday to docket 10-235. The agency “should reconcile these contradictory valuations” and “as part of a holistic approach to both spectrum and media ownership policies, the Commission should study what effect a reduction of the number of voices in various markets would have on multiple ownership rules,” MSTV said. Also at the lunch were executives from the Association of Public Television Stations, CBS, Ion Media and News Corp. and representatives of companies including Belo, Disney, Meredith and Tribune.
Broadcaster participation need not be high to raise nearly $28 billion from voluntary incentive auctions, said Phil Weiser, National Economic Council senior adviser to the director for technology and innovation. The White House estimated in its FY 2012 budget that the wireless effort could raise $27.8 billion. At a New America Foundation event Wednesday on the Hill, Weiser and other government officials acknowledged that the auctions and much else in Obama’s wireless plan rely on Congressional action. Meanwhile, speakers from industry and public interest groups urged government not to lose focus on spectrum sharing as it moves forward on auctions.
House Republicans will try to use the Continuing Resolution to stop the FCC from acting on its net neutrality order. In a speech Tuesday, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said he filed an amendment prohibiting the FCC from spending any money to implement the rule. Also at the NARUC meeting, Walden said he’s considering legislation to overhaul FCC process. He questioned the White House’s FY 2012 budget estimate for money that could be raised by voluntary incentive spectrum auctions.
The White House estimated that it can raise nearly $28 billion from spectrum sales, including voluntary incentive auctions of broadcasters’ spectrum, but the budget it released Monday gives little detail on how it arrived at the figure. President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2012 budget proposed legislation providing authority for voluntary incentive auctions and estimated that spectrum auctions, “along with other measures to enable more efficient spectrum management,” will produce $27.8 billion over the next 10 years. The budget will face scrutiny particularly from House Republicans, who want to spend about $100 billion less in fiscal 2011 than Obama, said a telecom lobbyist.
President Barack Obama Thursday called for $10.7 billion to be dedicated to nationwide wireless public safety network, and $5 billion for a one-time upgrade to 4G wireless in rural America. Obama dedicated most of Thursday to wireless, flying to Marquette, Mich., where he viewed a WiMAX network installed at Northern Michigan University and spoke at the school to an enthusiastic audience standing in front of a sign that read “Winning the Future."
Verizon Wireless opposed a proposal by the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age for a new “overcoming disadvantages” category for designated entities (DE) in FCC spectrum auctions (CD Oct 4 p3). But public interest groups led by the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ said the proposal shows promise. Council Tree, a DE, said the FCC should consider the proposal, but must restructure the current program so a larger number of DEs can bid successfully for spectrum licenses.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Friday said in an e-mail to staff he supports the anti-regulation moves by the broader Obama administration. President Barack Obama took a jab at over-regulation in his State of the Union address Jan. 25 and the administration issued an order that would measure the effectiveness of regulations.
Making more spectrum available for wireless broadband appears to be the FCC’s top priority, Stifel Nicolaus said Wednesday in a research note. “But we are skeptical that there will be any significant spectrum auctions until late 2012 at the earliest,” the note said. The 700 MHz D-block is “unlikely to be made available for commercial use anytime soon, if ever,” Stifel Nicolaus said. “There will be a big push in Congress, propelled in part by budget deficit reduction efforts, to give the FCC incentive auction authority, which could free up some broadcaster spectrum and the 2 GHz MSS spectrum, but there are so many difficult issues -- and a smaller legislative window due to the 2012 general election -- that we do not give this much more than a 50/50 chance this Congress."
SAN FRANCISCO -- Egypt’s Internet cutoff vindicates support for strong net neutrality and opposition to online censorship, said Free Press President Josh Silver. A lesson is that neither governments nor corporations should be allowed to shut down or censor the Internet, he said at the Commonwealth Club civic forum Monday evening.
Four months after the FCC approved final white spaces rules Sept. 23, the Office of Engineering and Technology said nine companies have been selected as geolocation database providers. The order was announced quietly, compared to the fanfare that marked the September order. But it marks a critical step toward the sale of the first devices designed to use the TV band to surf the Internet.