WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission’s decision last week to encourage rather than mandate band-clearing arrangements at 700 MHz could be moot if a powerful lawmaker’s plan to get high-speed access to the Internet is approved.
The FCC said late Thursday it will presume arrangements between broadcasters and wireless carriers to clear the spectrum in TV stations 59-69 are in the public interest.
“These actions will provide more certainty to parties preparing to bid for this spectrum as well as encourage development of this valuable spectrum in a manner that best serves the needs of consumers,” said FCC Chairman William Kennard.
The wireless industry disagreed. “The FCC hasn’t really done anything to require broadcasters to vacate [the spectrum.] This is like buying a house and having a very good chance that the current residents have not moved out and won’t move out for a very long time,” said Jeffrey Nelson, spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.
By only encouraging voluntary arrangements, the FCC could be setting up a time frame that will hurt customers, said Andrea Linskey, spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless. “Voluntary certainly does not comport quickly,” Linskey said.
The wireless industry acknowledged that Congress, not the FCC, is calling the shots because it passed laws making it difficult to have a successful auction.
“We are conscious that Congress has put the FCC in an untenable situation by requiring an auction to take place before the spectrum is clear,” said Nelson.
Congress said in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 that broadcasters do not have to transition to digital TV until 2007 and 85 percent of the homes in their territory have digital receivers. But last year it told the FCC to auction the spectrum in TV channels 60-69 and deposit at least $2.6 billion into the treasury by Sept. 30. The FCC has received a small reprieve from the deadline, but must still hold the auction before the transition to DTV is complete.
To make matters even more complicated, Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), chairman of the Senate communications subcommittee, has introduced a bill that could make any band-clearing efforts moot.
Burns’ bill would give low-power TV broadcasters primary status if they offer high-speed interactive Internet services to rural America.
If the low-power TV broadcaster was the primary user on a station slated to be used for DTV transmission, that broadcaster would not have to vacate channels 59-69, thus defeating any band-clearing arrangements. Channel 59 also must be cleared to protect it from interference in services being offered on channel 60.
In addition to mucking up the band-clearing process, the wireless industry is seeing red over the fact that broadcasters received their spectrum for free while the wireless industry must pay top dollar to offer the same services.
“What this will do is make the spectrum more valuable and make it easier for wireless carriers to pay billions for the privilege of providing this spectrum. This basically gives spectrum away,” said Steven K. Berry, CTIA senior vice president for congressional affairs.
A spokesman for Burns said the legislation would not have been necessary if the wireless industry was offering these services today.
The bill would not be in place `if the wireless industry had already penetrated rural Montana in the first place,” said Ben O’Connell, spokesman for Burns.
The bill is set to be marked up by the Senate Commerce Committee the week of July 10.
If it does come to markup, CTIA would like to see at least two changes, said Berry.
The first change would require broadcasters to pay a percentage-perhaps 5 percent-of the revenues derived from the high-speed service to the government.
The second change would clarify that a broadcaster could not “flip” his licenses and gain yet another commercial advantage from the free license.
FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani dissented from the FCC’s decision to encourage private band-clearing arrangements, saying she is worried the 30 percent of Americans who watch television via over-the-air-broadcasts will be harmed if a broadcaster in the process of clearing decides to go dark rather than transitioning to digital transmission.
The FCC also will seek comment on whether it, rather than a private party, should conduct a band-clearing auction.
“I have serious doubts about our statutory authority to run such an auction. We are not Sotheby’s, available for hire to auction any communications-related items,” said Furchtgott-Roth.
