other spectrum already allocated for wireless before asking for more, while
companies that would benefit asked the government to look everywhere possible.
Many broadcasters objected.
Meredith Attwell Baker
, the newest Republican FCC
commissioner, agreed that properly using the existing spectrum
was important, and part of doing this was using the latest
technology. The wireless industry needed more spectrum, both
licensed and unlicensed.
FCC broadband advisor
Blair Levin
wanted a plan by February
2010. Another proposal was "
geo-filtered WiMAX
", which
would allow
HDTV
but only in a particular market, with the
remainder of the spectrum sold for
$60 billion
. WiMax would
replace the existing services but would make
MVPD
services
cheaper, while still allowing broadcasters to make more
money. The additional spectrum made available could then be
sold to pay the industry's debt.
An FCC workshop on
November 23, 2009
produced several ideas.
Virginia Tech professor
Charles Bostian
said sharing should be
done, but not in the
white spaces
; WiFi spectrum should be used
instead.
Vint Cerf
of
Google
said cable companies could share some
spectrum, which the companies would like to do except they have
"
must-carry
" rules that will not allow this.
BBN Technologies
chief
engineer
Chip Elliott
called for government-funded broadband to be
shared by researchers. Collaboration was the key to advancing the
technology, and the word "
collaboratories
" referred to broadband as
"
not only the goal of the research, but the vehicle as well.
"
Wi-Fi testing using white spaces took place in
Virginia in Fall 2009
and in
Wilmington, North Carolina in 2010
.
On
December 14, 2009
at a hearing before the Communications
Subcommittee of the
House Energy & Commerce Committee
, NAB
president
Gordon H. Smith
recommended using white space in rural areas
with fixed devices rather than mobile devices, and new types of
broadband service such as those developed by
Sezmi
. CTIA president
Steve Largent
said that the industry needed spectrum, "
wherever it comes
from.
" He said government spectrum probably was not efficiently used
and would "
likely
" be "
repurposed
", while other broadcast and satellite
spectrum "
may
" be used better for wireless. Largent also said without
more spectrum, companies might merge to better use what they had.
Consultant
Dave Hatfield
, former FCC engineering and technology chief,
said making maximum use of existing spectrum through
compression
and
modulation
would help, but it would not be enough.
The
February 17, 2010
deadline was extended by a month. On
March 16, at the FCC's monthly meeting,
Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan
was
revealed, with a combination of mandatory and voluntary
efforts expected to increase spectrum by
300 MHz
;
120 MHz
of that was expected to come from broadcasters, and
90 MHz
from mobile satellite service.
Mark Wigfield
, broadband spokesman for the FCC, pointed out
that even in the unlikely event all broadcasters in a market gave
up their spectrum, the FCC would have to guarantee that some
over-the-air service remained.
In
April 2011
, FCC chairman
Julius Genachowski
said "
realigning
"
would be necessary if broadcasters did not volunteer, while Intel's
Peter Pitsch
told Congress "
the repacking process should not be made
voluntary.
" The NAB's Smith worried that the process could cause
numerous problems for broadcasters and viewers.
The
spectrum auctions
were authorized by
Title VI (The Spectrum Act)
of the
payroll tax cut extension
passed by Congress on
February 17, 2012
.
On
April 27, 2012
, the FCC approved letting stations share channels, with
all stations that had "
full channels
" keeping rights such as
must-carry
. At
the first "
reverse incentive auction
" workshop on
October 26
, FCC Media
Bureau chief
Bill Lake
said stations would not be able to decide their
channel but could apply to change it.
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