DTC Challenges T-Mobile Repack Claims

Digital Tech Consulting (DTC), which last year submitted an analysis of the resources that will be needed to repack television stations following the upcoming FCC spectrum incentive auction, today challenged the findings of a T-Mobile report submitted in February that DTC claims “reflects a number of flawed assumptions and conclusions.”

T-Mobile, which is expected to bid for TV spectrum in the FCC’s incentive auction, says that the government is giving broadcasters plenty of time (39 months) and money ($1.75 billion) to move to new channels in the post-auction repacking of the TV band. Both of those figures have been challenged by broadcasters, including the NAB, who argue more money and time is likely to be necessary.

The wireless carrier backed its claim with a 410-page study from the RF engineering firms of Broadcast Tower Technologies and Hammett & Edison.

In response today, DTC said: “First, T-Mobile erroneously assumes that  antennas  identified  as ‘broadband’  are capable of transmitting on all contiguous channels within all or a portion of the UHF band without modification. This is inaccurate, and reflects T-Mobile’s failure to research the capabilities of these antennas. In fact, most of these antennas will need significant alterations, which cannot be performed while the antennas remain on towers, to operate on new channels. As a result, T­Mobile meaningfully underestimates the scope of antenna removal and installation work the transition will require.

“Second, T-Mobile overstates the availability of critical resources, including tower crews with the equipment and experience qualifying them to perform broadcast antenna installation and removal work. T-Mobile claims to have identified 41 qualified tower crews capable of performing this work. In fact, based on our interviews with the additional companies T-Mobile identified, some of these companies have not performed broadcast work in more than a decade, some lack necessary specialized rigging equipment, and some specialize in radio, microwave and cellular antenna installations. Many broadcasters have never heard of some of these additional companies, and will not trust them to perform hazardous work on their critical facilities.

“Third, T-Mobile asserts that DTC understated the capacity of antenna manufacturers to meet a surge in demand for broadcast television antennas. In fact, only two manufacturers supply antennas to 89 percent of the full-power television market. These manufacturers confirm that typical lead times will range from 12 to 24 weeks for design, modeling, manufacturing and testing of antennas, that lead times are likely to lengthen when a large number of orders are placed simultaneously, and that they are unlikely to significantly increase capacity until they have a sufficient number of orders in hand to warrant expansion.”

T-Mobile also failed to explain how it concluded the repack could be completed in 39 months, DTC said. It appears not to have taken all of the steps DTC followed to reach its conclusions.

Some of those steps involved “documenting every task required for stations transitioning to new channels;” and “identifying all qualified industry resources available by a set of broadcast-industry standards,” DTC said.

Many of T-Mobile’s “conclusions ignore, or significantly underestimate,” the complexities of moving high-power TV stations to new channel assignments, it said.