Congress Will Auction Public Airwaves to Pay for Benefits

[TheRover]

Congress Will Auction Public Airwaves to Pay for Benefits

By Edward Wyatt and Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times - Feb. 17, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/b...-public-airwaves-to-pay-benefits.html?_r=1&hp

WASHINGTON — The need for revenue to partly cover the extension of the payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits has pushed Congress to embrace a generational shift in the country’s media landscape: the auction of public airwaves now used for television broadcasts to create more wireless Internet systems.


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I don't understand, will this mean the end of OTA TV broadcasts ? ? ?

How much of the "airwaves now used for television" are going to be auctioned.

There's a lot about this proposed bill that has not been explained enough ! !

 

[TheRover]

I know this is not immeadiate, as the article said that:

The spectrum auctions are at least one to two years away...

 

[TheRover]

I think I have found a resource that answers sowm fo the questions and issues I had about the Spectrum Auction, specifically of the D Block.

That is found on the CNET website.

Here are two references:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20000586-266.html

and

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-5...tion-compromise-part-of-payroll-tax-cut-bill/

It appears, on my first read, that the TV stations would be turning over unused spectrum.

I suppose the loss of spectrum could prevent some low power stations from coming into existence.

It looks like getting TV over a wireless connection may the the wave of the future for home and away from home.

 

[gregg75]

We should probably chalk one up for the Wireless Internet lobbyists and their big $$$ to help congress get re-elected.

 

[mjlarochelle]

So, what this means for a market with a certain set of RF channel allotments for television, the other channel allotments would be used for wireless Internet?

I'm still not convinced about wireless Internet being used to distribute television en masse. The signal quality still needs to be improved a lot, and the general reliability of Internet signals, whether wired or wireless, still needs to be improved. I think that kind of thing is still years away. And of course, look at how much stations have already spent on upgrading to digital OTA and HD.

 

[TVCOOL]

The biggest losers are the low-power channels that use 24-7 religion and informicals to fill their schedules.

 

[dave73]

The biggest losers are the low-power channels that use 24-7 religion and informicals to fill their schedules.

The big losers of low power stations will also be those who affiliate with a top 4 network. With a number of smaller markets having only 2-6 full power channels allocated to their market, station owners of full power stations might not want to affiliate with a top 4 network, & that keeps a certain network off of a full power channel. South Bend Indiana is one market where ABC is on a low power station, because WNDU has NBC, WSBT has CBS, WSJV has Fox (was ABC until 1995), & WHME-TV shows no interest in affiliating with a network. The 3 network stations in South Bend also don't want ABC on a subchannel either. So taking away more channels would likely eliminate ABC from that market.

Depending on the upcoming changes to OTA TV, some full power stations could go dark, because an owner would find it difficult to make changes. US markets near Canada could lose all OTA TV, because Canada isn't going to chop their channel lineup again so soon (some Canadian markets have not gone all digital either). That alone there could make it difficult to launch new wireless services (translation: AT&T & Verizon will really end up with the bulk of this spectrum, & sit on most of it, rather than new services being used for it).

 

[wrsg915fm]

Station owners should sue the FCC out of existence.

 

[FreddyE1977]

or this may be what is known colloquially in D.C. as a "pinch bill".

You threaten some group or industry with big, onerous regulations during an
election year when you really need them to open their checkbooks and start
funding your campaigns.

This seems like an all-too-obvious pinch bill aimed at the NAB.

 

[KeithE4]

Congress Will Auction Public Airwaves to Pay for Benefits

By Edward Wyatt and Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times - Feb. 17, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/b...-public-airwaves-to-pay-benefits.html?_r=1&hp

WASHINGTON — The need for revenue to partly cover the extension of the payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits has pushed Congress to embrace a generational shift in the country’s media landscape: the auction of public airwaves now used for television broadcasts to create more wireless Internet systems.

That's what the market demands. Therefore it will be made to happen. Once every cellphone is a smartphone (closer than you think) and requires at least 3G digital service, the spectrum will have to come from somewhere, and it must be on UHF or microwave frequencies. Much of this spectrum (225 MHz and up) that isn't already owned by the cellphone companies is for military, non-broadcast satellite, and space research & radio-astronomy purposes. Most of those frequencies can't be touched.

I don't understand, will this mean the end of OTA TV broadcasts ? ? ?

No, but how many OTA signals are necessary in a given market - even NY, LA, or Chicago? 10-12 tops? Many big-market LPTVs are a total waste of airwaves - paid-religion and infomercials in English and Spanish. Smaller markets, where one or more network affiliates may be on LPTV/Class A stations, are another story, but even then, do they need more than 7 or 8 stations in Wausau, Boise, or Binghamton? Not likely.

How much of the "airwaves now used for television" are going to be auctioned.

There's a lot about this proposed bill that has not been explained enough ! !

Agree 100% there.

 

[TheRover]

There's an article in CNN Money today:

Sorry, America: Your wireless airwaves are full

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/21/technology/spectrum_crunch/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3

The iPhone, for instance, uses 24 times as much spectrum as an old-fashioned cell phone, and the iPad uses 122 times as much, according to the Federal FCC.

There are also businesses such as Dish Network that have large spectrum allotments but aren't currently using them. (Dish is exploring its options for either using or selling its spectrum.

There's just too many comapnies sitting on specturm, and/or not using what spectrum they have efficiently.

I say Use It.... Or Lose It !!!