Broadcasters coalition offers alternative spectrum plan
A coalition of broadcasters outlined a proposal on Thursday to make better use of the nation's spectrum and says it would raise more money to reduce the deficit than legislation favored by the wireless industry and some lawmakers.
The Coalition for Free TV and Broadband wants its idea for legislation to replaced the measure approved by the Senate Commerce Committee to free up more spectrum for wireless broadband. The coalition is concerned about a provision in the Commerce legislation and similar bills that would authorize the Federal Communications Commission to auction off frequencies.
Such auctions are aimed at enticing broadcasters to voluntarily give up some of their spectrum for a share of the proceeds. Many broadcasters worry about the proposal's impact on stations that choose not to participate.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the Commerce Committee proposal would raise $24.5 billion. Only $6.5 billion would be available for deficit reduction after money is deducted to pay for the bill's other provisions. The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is considering including spectrum legislation in the package it is crafting to lower the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion.
The coalition's spectrum plan calls for using broadcasting technology for some forms of wireless broadband capacity to deliver some mobile video content, such as football games. They note that much of the future growth in wireless broadband traffic will come from demand for mobile video services. Traditional wireless companies like AT&T or Sprint would deliver other wireless traffic such as a text messages sent from one user to another.
The plan would require congressional approval, and coalition officials said they have briefed some key committee staffers on the proposal.
The coalition estimates the proposal could raise at least $60 billion in the first 15 years and more in future years through the additional revenues broadcasters would generate from mobile broadband. The federal government would get a percentage of those revenues through license renewal fees.
The coalition is made up of low-power TV stations; TV translators, which rebroadcast signals from full-power stations; and Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns dozens of full-power television stations. The coalition argues that many low-power TV stations and translators could be put out of business as a result of the incentive auction process.
"There are unintended consequences for rushing to judgment to fix a manufactured crisis," Randy Weiss, who operates a low-power Christian television station, said at a news conference on the coalition plan.
The National Association of Broadcasters, which represents full-power TV stations and is not part of the coalition, said it is studying the coalition's proposal, noting it "offers interesting ideas worth reviewing."
"Our official position continues to be the following: NAB has no quarrel with incentive auctions so long as broadcasters who choose to stay in business are held harmless," said NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton.
Wireless carriers questioned low-power broadcasters' sudden interest in providing broadband.
"Many [low-power TV stations] have had spectrum licenses for more than 20 years, so their new-found interest in providing broadband is curious," Jot Carpenter, vice president for government affairs with the wireless industry group CTIA, said in a statement. "Perhaps they're hoping for an act of legislative alchemy by which they can turn their secondary licenses into something valuable. This strikes me as nothing more than a self-serving arbitrage play."