FCC to Propose Broadcast Spectrum Auction

[gmclam]

WASHINGTON: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski today said that voluntary relinquishment of broadcast licenses would be part of the agency's proposed plan to create nationwide, wireless broadband.

One of the goals of the plan is to free up 500 MHz of spectrum for broadband over the next decade. This "Mobile Future Auction," that would allow existing spectrum licensees "such as television broadcasters in spectrum-starved markets, to voluntarily relinquish spectrum in exchange for a share of auction proceeds, and allow spectrum sharing and other spectrum efficiency measures."

He also acknowledged there is already spectrum coming to the market. Including 2008's 700 MHz auction, the FCC has authorized a three-fold increase in commercial spectrum for mobile broadband. "A second reason is that the highly valuable spectrum currently allocated for broadcast television is not being used efficiently--indeed, much is not being used at all. About 300 MHz of spectrum have been set aside for broadcast TV.

Full Story: http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/95426

 

[gmclam]

Think Tank: Gov't Needs to Give Up Some Spectrum

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission should look not only for television broadcasters to give up unused wireless spectrum but also government agencies, in an effort to provide more spectrum for commercial mobile broadband, a new paper says.

With mobile broadband use expected to explode in coming years, significantly more spectrum is needed, but the FCC can't just rely on U.S. TV stations to give up their underused spectrum, said the authors of the study, released by the Technology Policy Institute (TPI), a conservative think tank, Friday. The U.S. government should create a new agency, the Government Spectrum Ownership Corp. (GSOC), that leases spectrum to individual government agencies, the study recommended.

While TV broadcasters hold less than 300MHz of spectrum, U.S. government agencies have exclusive rights to more than 620MHz of spectrum, and the government shares another 970MHz with commercial users, the TPI paper said.

FULL STORY: http://www.cio.com/article/558763/Think_Tank_Gov_t_Needs_to_Give_Up_Some_Spectrum?source=rss_news

 

[Skypilot007]

Must be nice to say you own the airwaves, and to be able to sell them....Good greif !

Airwaves should be allocated for specific purposes, not sold to the highest bidder by the FCC!

Our goverenment is seriously broken.

 

[ccfire]

yeah i agree they should not sell to the highest bidder.

 

[Citywide173]

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission should look not only for television broadcasters to give up unused wireless spectrum but also government agencies, in an effort to provide more spectrum for commercial mobile broadband, a new paper says.

Last time I checked, the FCC didn't have any say in government agency use of frequencies or licensing.

 

[kb2vxa]

Exactly, but NITA has been shuffling the cards too only it's an unknown entity to the general public.

 

[gmclam]

Last time I checked, the FCC didn't have any say in government agency use of frequencies or licensing.

That just goes to show you can't absolutely trust what reporters write or say.

 

[INDY72]

Precisely, the NTIA has been rearranging and redrisributing thier spectrum to fit their narrowbanding and effeciency of usage plans, at the same time the FCC has been working on its side. As for the NTIA ever "selling" its frequencies, lol.. not likely in the "normal" open market... The "public" sector of the government sector such s USPS, and FCC are more business than agency when it comes to a lot of practices. The FCC being the worst of them all. It is the only "government agency" that controls every aspect of public telecommunications, but also is money hungry greedy and inefficient by selling off the airwaves like cheeseburgers at McDonalds. If they would stick to actual proper regulation of the spectrums they "control" then the things would be a lot simpler. In fact, the whole Nextel rebanding situation would never have had to occur in the first place. But as is usual in our system of government,... $$$ TALKS..... WOnder which telecomm corp set this all up?? Verizon??? Oh and whatever happened to the whole BoPL thing former Presidents Reagan, Bush I and II, and Clinton promised was to be an reality by 2020 an eliminate the need for this precise type of thing happening?

 

[gmclam]

Congress In No Rush On Shifting Spectrum

Policymakers want to conduct a full inventory of spectrum use before making any judgments about reallocating spectrum....

But passage of a bill authorizing that inventory is a priority, they said.

"We want to survey the spectrum that's out there. The bill is a good first way to guage the spectrum that's out there and how it's being used and how we can be more efficient...

The FCC would like to see some of the broadcast spectrum reallocated for wireless broadband use.

FULL STORY

 

[gmclam]

FCC Proposes Reallocating 40 Percent of Broadcast Spectrum

WASHINGTON: Broadcasters stand to lose 40 percent of their spectrum under the FCC’s new National Broadband Plan, due on Capitol Hill tomorrow. The plan was released in Washington today; details emerged in several reports. The goal of the plan is to bring 100 Mbps broadband access to 100 million American homes in 10 years...

It calls for making 500 MHz of spectrum available in 10 years, and 300 MHz available within the next five years, for both licensed and unlicensed use. Of that, 120 MHz is to come from television broadcasters...

The NAB’s Dennis Wharton said the NAB was “pleased” by initial indications that spectrum reallocation would be voluntary, “however, we are concerned by reports today that suggest many aspects of the plan may in fact not be as voluntary as originally promised.... He noted that broadcasters had already returned 108 MHz of spectrum in the digital transition, comprising more than one-fourth of TV’s total. He also said the NAB “strongly support” the pending bills on Capitol Hill that would require an inventory of all available spectrum.

FULL STORY