New Advocacy Group Enlightens Decision-Makers To The Bright Possibilities Of Television Spectrum… Evolving!
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November 1, 2010
SpectrumEvolution.org is a new advocacy group, whose mission is to promote fair, plausible and intelligent broadcast spectrum policy, with a focus on how spectrum policy issues raised in the National Broadband Plan will impact all broadcasters, especially Class A, Low Power TV (“LPTV”), and TV Translator stations. As our name indicates, we believe that spectrum use should “evolve” and be driven primarily by private entrepreneurial creativity and marketplace forces – not by government officials who pick winners and losers by opening and closing regulatory gates according to their own notion of what is best for the people of our country.
Spectrum Evolution.org recently completed a round of meetings in Washington, D.C. that included the FCC, Congress, and other groups with a vital interest in broadcast spectrum policy. Based on recent public statements made by FCC Chairman Genachowski, we are cautiously optimistic that the FCC will appropriately recognize the roles played by all classes of broadcasters, as it defines the way forward to maximize efficient use of broadcast spectrum, including any incentive auction proceeding. Taken at face value, the Chairman’s statements indicate that Class A, LPTV and TV Translators will be part of any incentive plan. However, based on past FCC regulatory decisions, which have often neglected the needs of these stations, and unfairly restricted them, station operators must remain vigilant and demand that the FCC contend with them justly as the National Broadband Plan is implemented.
SpectrumEvolution.org intends to make certain that the FCC and Congress ensure that future opportunities to enhance the use of broadcast spectrum are made available to all incumbent licensees. Creativity by incumbent licensees needs to be unleashed now! One way to do that is by releasing them from regulatory restrictions that impair the use of updated and more efficient forms of signal modulation than today’s digital television standard allows. Without that significant leash, we believe that broadcasters will be able to launch mobile broadband service faster, better, sooner and cheaper than if we have to wait for incentive auction legislation from Congress, the auction itself, and the litigation that will undoubtedly arise from those activities. Because so many Class A, LPTV, and TV Translator stations are already in rural markets, they will provide broadband service to these markets sooner than big wireless companies, which have historically gravitated to the highest density revenue sources in big cities.
Allowing advanced broadband services on broadcast spectrum can produce a win/win, because traditional broadcasting can be preserved, while at the same time, delivering broadband quickly and efficiently to the un-served and underserved.
We also strongly believe that the broadcast spectrum pool should not be further compressed, as broadcasters have already lost channels 52 – 83 in past FCC actions, and Class A, LPTV, and TV Translator stations are being asked in a new rule making to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in transitioning to digital operation. If the FCC does truncate the spectrum and auction what it takes back, all licensees, including licensed LPTV and Class A operators, construction permit holders and all pending applicants should be appropriately recognized for their efforts and investments and allowed to share in the incentive proceeds.
Last summer, after a decade-long freeze that paralyzed the industry, the FCC began accepting applications for new LPTV and TV Translator stations in rural areas, where spectrum is least congested. But last week, the FCC, without warning, slammed shut that filing opportunity, thus preventing entrepreneurs seeking to combine broadcasting and broadband, from obtaining licenses to build their networks. SpectrumEvolution.org will seek clarity on how the Commission intends to handle existing applications that were previously filed and paid for at a cost of $2,000 or more per application (including an FCC filing fee of $705 dollars per application).
Even if the FCC’s plan is only to auction stations in the top 30 markets, which is difficult to believe in light of other statements indicating that wireless companies need a nationwide swath of clean spectrum, the re-packing scheme of pushing all stations to channels 14 – 32 to clear 20 channels for auction will impact TV stations in markets large and small, even in rural areas. It could be the deathblow to small market broadcasters!
SpectrumEvolution.org will make certain that Congress is fully aware of the pending burden that is about to be forced upon many of the small business owners across the country that serve audiences neglected by big stations and represent a critical entry point for minorities and women to become media owners. If they disappear or are not allowed to be part of the National Broadband Plan, diversity of voices and ownership will suffer a real setback, and ownership concentration in both the broadcast and wireless industries will be increased even more than it already is today.
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