Placing TV Stations in 600 MHz Band Would Have 'Dramatic' Effect on Forward Auction, NAB Says
Placing even a few TV stations in the wireless band would “dramatically affect” the amount of spectrum available in the forward auction, NAB told an aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a meeting Monday, according to an ex parte…
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filing posted online in docket 12-252 Wednesday. “If the FCC places even a handful of stations in the wireless band, it may consequently be restricting the forward auction to two or three blocks of paired spectrum available in the Northeast corridor,” NAB said. The FCC also has made “broadcaster costs an after thought” in the repacking process, NAB said. The commission staff “has yet to produce any data suggesting that, by optimizing repacking moves earlier in the auction process, it will be handcuffed from its goal of repurposing spectrum for the wireless industry,” NAB said. The agency also should modify its white spaces rules to require white space devices to include “geolocation capability” to make falsifying their location more difficult and an enforcement system that “imposes responsibility on database administrators who fail to correct false information in the database,” NAB said.