spectrum repack

Democrats Maria Cantwell and Jeanne Shaheen ask FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to provide an analysis of whether the $1.75 billion and 39-month time frame are adequate for the repack “within 105 days after the completion of the forward portion of the [incentive] auction.”

Howard Symons of the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force says that work is proceeding apace on a computer program that will calculate when stations have to move to their new channels in the TV band repacking that will follow the incentive auction. He promises ample opportunities for broadcasters and other stakeholders to vet the program this summer and suggest changes. What is unlikely to change, however, is the time for completing the entire repack. “At this point, we see no reason that 39 months won’t work.”

Broadcasters are keenly interested in understanding their transmitter options to satisfy the requirements of the TV spectrum repack and positioning themselves for an easy transition to ATSC 3.0 if and when that becomes a reality. Dick Fiore, CEO of Hitachi-Comark, discusses both as well as total cost of ownership, SFNs in a 3.0 world and the importance of broadcasters supporting 3.0 as the FCC considers authorization.

She moves from the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau to plan and implement the post-auction transition.

Antenna and RF component manufacturer Electronics Research Inc. is on track to increase its antenna production capacity by 800% before the end of the year after entering into an agreement with wireless provider T-Mobile to facilitate the expansion. Above, an aerial view of ERI’s Chandler, Ind., antenna manufacturing facility. The company plans to add three new buildings and more than 100 employees by year’s end. (ERI photo)

The FCC can take several more steps to expedite the TV spectrum repack and increase the likelihood of achieving its aggressive timeline, including authorizing the use of temporary side-mount antennas, says Dan Fallon, senior RF engineer at antenna vendor Dielectric.

During an NAB Show panel, it became apparent that both broadcast and wireless interests see value in sitting down together to plan the post-auction spectrum reorganization, with both sides saying a region-by-region approach looks most efficient. T-Mobile’s Steve Sharkey: “Any chance to get together and try to figure out what the right process is is a positive step forward.” I agree; a summit would get further faster than any other method in bridging the gap between broadcasters and carriers.

The FCC Chairman tells an NAB Show audience: “Hooray for the creative thinking of the broadcast community that brought ATSC 3.0 from an idea into reality. We need to move with dispatch to get that in the public debate.” He says the proposal will be put out for comment by the end of the month. He also says the FCC will announce how much spectrum it wants by the end of the month and reassures broadcasters that he will lead the push to get more money for the post-auction repack if that proves necessary.

Equipment vendors say that the recent FCC ruling that clears up whether the commission will reimburse TV station owners for relocation expenses before or during the two-part spectrum auction process should mean broadcasters can move forward with engineering studies in advance of the spectrum repack. And those studies can also aid broadcasters in making ATSC 3.0 business decisions.

Electronics Research Inc. will work with T-Mobile to ensure the availability of equipment and installation crews to accelerate completion of the mandated television channel changes following the conclusion of the FCC’s broadcast incentive auction.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told a Senate subcommittee today that the incentive auction of 600 MHz spectrum may extend into the commission’s fiscal 2017 (which begins in July) if it doesn’t raise enough to pay broadcasters for the airwaves. The possibility of an extended timeframe is one reason why the FCC is requesting an additional $11 million in federal funds, he said.

The bickering in Washington over how long TV broadcasters should have to move to new channels after the incentive auction has not been productive. It’s time for the FCC to listen to AT&T and NAB, dump the current 39-month deadline and adopt a regional phase-in approach. It makes the most sense for wireless carriers as well as for broadcasters and their viewers. For once, let reason prevail.

The latest broadcast transmitter and antenna technology is built to see broadcasters through the upcoming repack and beyond by offering new flexibility and efficiency. New UHF transmitters are able to achieve power efficiencies of up to 50% for high-power operation. The broadband antennas will be able to handle many flash cut scenarios during the repack. For a resources guide to the companies mentioned in this story, click here. Read all the 2016 NAB Hot Topics stories here.

This year, TVNewsCheck is augmenting its coverage of NAB Show Hot Topics tech trends stories with information that can make your visit to NAB easier. This week’s focus is the post incentive […]

Like AT&T, the broadcast group says the most logical way to conduct the post-auction repacking of the TV band later this year is on a regional basis with the most populated regions going first. “Prioritizing the most highly populated markets will…minimize viewer disruption and confusion.”

Digital Tech Consulting takes issue with T-Mobile’s contention that 39 months and $1.75 billion will be adequate to insure a smooth repack following the FCC’s incentive auction.

LPTV proponent Free Access & Broadcast Telemedia asks a federal appeals court to make the commission delay the incentive auction until cases objecting to the exclusion of LPTVs in the process can be resolved.

The trade group says T-Mobile’s earlier study supporting the government-mandated time frame and cost of relocating broadcasters following the spectrum incentive auction is wrong. NAB picks apart some of the specific findings, namely, the utility of broadband antennas and the availability of qualified and trusted tower crews.

NAB is pressing Congress for more time and money for broadcasters to move to new channels following the spectrum incentive auction this spring, but key policymakers are signaling that such relief will not come, if it comes at all, until after the incentive auction when the full dimensions of band repacking are better known.

An amendment introduced today would boost the government fund for relocation expenses for TV stations following the FCC’s auction and repack to $2.75 billion and extend the deadline to complete those moves indefinitely.

FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly on Tuesday told broadcasters they will likely have to wait until after the FCC’s spectrum auction to see changes to the agency’s spectrum re-allocation process.

The wireless carrier, which is expected to bid for spectrum in the FCC’s spectrum auction, says that there are no grounds for NAB’s request for more time and money to move to new channels in the post-auction repacking of the TV band. According to its study, the carrier says, the current deadline (39 months) and reimbursement fund ($1.75 billion) are more than enough.

Maxwell C. Agha and his wife, Michelle Diaz Agha, have pumped $15 million into their small San Diego TV station over the last two decades so they could broadcast Spanish-language news, Catholic shows and local programming. But KSDY and many other small, low-power TV stations, which often broadcast foreign-language and religious programming, soon could be silenced — knocked off the air involuntarily by the federal government with no compensation to their owners or alternatives for their often low-income viewers.

New high-power solid-state transmitters can provide a superior alternative to first-gen digital units. They are more efficient, cheaper to run and will be paid for by the government. (Photo: Rohde & Schwarz)

Coming on the heels of the TV spectrum repack will likely be ATSC 3.0, the next-generation TV standard that will, among other things, allow stations to deliver HDTV to mobile […]

Many broadcasters assigned new channels as part of the FCC’s TV band repack may need more transmitter power than they think, the RF experts say. It’s all a matter of […]

NAB CEO Gordon Smith says the FCC’s to-do list for this year should be topped with: successfully handling the spectrum auction and repack; encouraging innovation and diversity; and resisting the pay TV industry’s attempt to “further pad its wallets through unnecessary government intervention in retransmission consent negotiations.”

Following this year’s FCC spectrum auction and repack, TV broadcasters will find themselves facing technical challenges involving satellite newsgathering, wireless mics and the Broadcast Auxiliary Service.

In addressing LPTV/translator future, the FCC declines to loosen several regulatory leashes. Whether – and if so, how many – LPTV/translators will benefit from the newly adopted measures is unclear.

The commission’s new Third Channel Sharing Report & Order allows channel sharing among LPTV and TV translator stations; extends the deadline for digital transition; and will offer assistance in finding new channels for displaced translator stations.

What issues are likely to keep engineers, managers and other tech types awake at night in 2016? TVNewsCheck’s Phil Kurz offers his predictions of next year’s trends that range from ATSC 3.0 to a serious rethink of how to define the business of television.

The FCC gave assurances this week that no stations will be forced off the air following the incentive auction next year because they can’t build their new channels in 39 months as the FCC has mandated. But that should be taken with a grain of salt until the repack rules are rewritten, perhaps around the regionalized repack scheme cooked up by NAB.

Back in August, the FCC adopted a range of new rules aimed at accommodating wireless mic use both during and after the upcoming repacking of the TV spectrum. That Report & Order has now been published in the Federal Register. As a result, we now know that most (but not all) of the new rules will take effect on Dec. 17.

RF expert Jay Adrick, one of the authors of the NAB-financed study that says that the incentive auction repack could take as much as 11 years, says that if the the repack is conducted on a region-by-region basis, wireless buyers could get access to their spectrum in a highly populated region in less than three years.

A new NAB-sponsored study says the necessary TV band reshuffling following next year’s spectrum auction will take between 8 and 11 years and cost $2 billion to $3 billion. That’s much greater than what the government has allocated. Its plan calls for all the stations to be moved in 39 months after the auction and it has set aside just $1.7 billion to reimburse broadcasters for their moving costs. CTIA says it will oppose any effort to stretch out the repack.

The trade group tell the FCC: “To avoid unnecessary confusion … and to reassure broadcasters that the commission intends to treat them fairly in all aspects of the incentive auction, we respectfully request that the commission promptly clarify that stations not participating in the auction will not be treated differently than participating stations.”

Rich Redmond is the chief product officer at transmission specialist GatesAIr and is a student of the technical and regulatory forces forever reshaping broadcasting. He talks about the challenges and opportunities — for GatesAir and the TV broadcasting — presented by the TV band repack that will follow next year’s spectrum incentive auction and by the coming of the next-generation TV transmission standard ATSC 3.0.