Capital Times: State plans to auction broadband frequencies

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Capital Times: State plans to auction broadband frequencies

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/index.php?ntid=114661

State plans to auction broadband frequencies

Selling them could cost state millions, critics say

By David Callender
The Capital Times
Published: January 12, 2007
E-mail: [email protected]

Is the state about to auction off surplus educational digital broadband frequencies - which could be worth millions to telecommunications companies - at bargain-basement prices?

That's how some critics see a move by the state Educational Communications Board to seek bids from private firms on more than 30 educational broadband frequencies the state now holds.

Former Dane County Executive and UW Regent Jonathan Barry and his business partner, telecommunications consultant Ralph Evans, have filed a formal protest to the bidding process and are seeking to halt the deal.

"I think the motive for the state is, quite simply, to get money to plug a hole in the budget, with little regard for the future utility of these frequencies for educational purposes," he said. "The sad thing is we're selling them for much less than their value." ...

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