NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Levin: TV Spectrum Auctions Likely Doomed
----- Forwarded message from Dave Farber <farber@gmail.com> ----- Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2012 08:36:35 -0500 (EST) From: Dave Farber <farber@gmail.com> Subject: [IP] Levin: TV Spectrum Auctions Likely Doomed Reply-To: dave@farber.net To: ip <ip@listbox.com> -----Original Message----- From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@warpspeed.com> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net@warpspeed.com> Sent: Thu, 05 Jan 2012 8:23 AM Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Levin: TV Spectrum Auctions Likely Doomed Levin: TV Spectrum Auctions Likely Doomed The chief architect of the FCC's National Broadband Plan says the incentive auction of TV spectrum is unlikely to produce much spectrum for wireless broadband or money for the federal treasury. Why? NAB-backed provisions designed to protect broadcasters in the authorizing legislation will expose the auction to crippling litigation. "Congratulations to [NAB President] Gordon Smith," he says. "He did a great job. He did the job he was hired to do.... But let’s not kid ourselves: That’s not putting the United States first." By Kim McAvoy, TVNewsCheck January 5, 2012 <http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2012/01/04/56476/levin-tv-spectrum-auctions-likely-doomed/page/1> An FCC incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum will likely "fail" if, as expected, Congress adopts Republican House authorizing legislation, according to Blair Levin, the chief architect of the FCC’s 2010 National Broadband Plan that first proposed the auction. The legislation, authored by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), would grant the FCC authority to conduct incentive auctions — auctions in which proceeds are shared with broadcasters who voluntarily give up their spectrum. But it also contains provisions designed to protect broadcasters who hang on to their spectrum. And they are what has Levin worried. "The legislation ties the FCC’s hands in a variety of ways," said Levin, who left the FCC following release of the broadband plan and is now attached to the Aspen Institute. "It opens it up to litigation risk, which then, in conjunction with the other handcuffs, makes it difficult to pull off a successful auction. "The nature of the bill dramatically increases the probability that there will be less spectrum recovered and less money for the [U.S.] Treasury." Levin and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski have been pushing for the incentive auction authority since 2009, believing that much TV spectrum is underutilized and it would be best to auction it off to wireless broadband carriers. [snip] Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress> ------------------------------------------- ----- End forwarded message -----
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