The FCC’s repacking plan doesn’t do enough to preserve...
The FCC’s repacking plan doesn’t do enough to preserve the coverage areas of existing broadcast licensees, said NAB in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/1exLR38) Wednesday. The FCC’s TVStudy software -- which will be used to oversee the repacking -- determines…
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coverage areas using “proxy channels” as broad stand-ins for actual channel assignments, NAB said. “The use of proxy channels leads to considerable inaccuracies,” said the filing. TVStudy also makes assumptions about interference from Canadian and Mexican stations rather than using actual data, NAB said. “Reducing the coverage and population of an existing U.S. station based on ‘imaginary’ interference ... does not comply with the Spectrum Act,” NAB said. The software also makes assumptions about the coverage areas of Class A analog stations that aren’t accurate, said the filing. The assumptions used by the software should be corrected to match the actual circumstances, NAB said. The FCC should also finish developing new coordination agreements with Canada and Mexico before the auction begins, the ex parte said. “Otherwise, TV stations will be stranded on spectrum identified for broadband or leave broadband use of recovered spectrum impaired indefinitely,” said the filing.