The commission says the new website "provides easy access to a range of useful information and resources that will help broadcasters and other stakeholders make more informed business decisions about participating in the incentive auction, which the FCC anticipates holding in 2014."
FCC Launches New Incentive Auction Site
The FCC today launched a new and improved LEARN (Learn Everything About Reverse-Auctions Now) website with enhanced online resources that it sees as a one-stop information resource for incentive auction stakeholders, particularly broadcasters.
The new LEARN website, the commission says, “provides easy access to a range of useful information and resources that will help broadcasters and other stakeholders make more informed business decisions about participating in the incentive auction, which the FCC anticipates holding in 2014. It also offers valuable information about the proposed incentive auction process, and the unique business opportunities created by the incentive auction.”
One of the many new features on the website is an 11-page summary of the broadcast incentive auction process, prepared by the Incentive Auction Task Force staff. This FCC Staff Summary highlights the key issues considered in the broadcast incentive auction notice of proposed rulemaking.
Gary Epstein, chair of the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force, said: “The new and improved LEARN website provides easy access to current, clear, concise, and accurate information designed to help the nation’s broadcasters make informed business decisions about participating in the incentive auction.”
The FCC’s broadcast television spectrum incentive auction will be the first such auction ever attempted anywhere in the world, the commission said, adding: “It will be a groundbreaking event for the broadcast television, mobile wireless and technology sectors of the economy. The auction will present a significant financial opportunity for many broadcasters, and it will enhance the ability of broadcasters who remain on the air to continue providing the public with diverse, local, free over-the-air television service.
“At the same time, the spectrum reclaimed through the incentive auction will promote economic growth and enhance America’s global competitiveness by increasing the speed, capacity and ubiquity of mobile broadband services such as 4G LTE and Wi-Fi-like networks. In turn, this will accelerate the smartphone- and tablet-led mobile revolution, benefitting millions of consumers and businesses across the country.”
BRAND CONNECTIONS
The 2010 National Broadband Plan introduced the concept of incentive auctions as a tool to help meet the nation’s growing spectrum needs. Incentive auctions are voluntary, market-based means of repurposing spectrum by encouraging licensees to voluntarily relinquish spectrum usage rights in exchange for a share of the proceeds from an auction of new licenses to use the repurposed spectrum.
Click on the links below to access the new LEARN website, read a blog post by Gary Epstein on the new website launch, and to access the new Staff Summary:
www.fcc.gov/blog/commission-launches-new-and-improved-incentive-auction-learn-website
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0116/DOC-318455A1.pdf
Comments (2)
Ellen Samrock says:
January 17, 2013 at 4:46 pm
As I suspected, the FCC is using the Nielsen 10% figure to justify taking spectrum away from broadcast television instead of the 18% cited by Knowledge Networks. The Commission obviously selects its facts carefully.
Joanne McDonald says:
January 17, 2013 at 5:32 pm
I’m seen to know how to understand the entire spectrum situation. I would take a bet that Daystar, Trinity, Ion and all the other religious and minor broadcast network plus all the diginets multicast networks would round up being regulated to cable only network that would be made available to customers with FTA systems and be made available on all cable systems as well as on both Directv and Dish Network and also be allowed to stream their programming online for internet users at no cost. I like the idea in which NBC stations on 1080 share their channel with Telemundo on 480 in widescreen, CBS stations on 1080 sharing with CW on 1080 in widescreen, FOX stations on 720 sharing with MyNET on 720 in widescreen, Univision and Telefutura share a channel together on either 480, 720, or 1080 in widescreen, and ABC would continue to not have to worry about sharing their stations with another network or another station and still on 720 in widescreen, but could likely share it with other network affiliated channels on either 480, 720, or 1080 in widescreen. PBS stations would likely be forced to merged and share it’s stations on the same channel frequency and still be able to transmit in 1080 widescreen. The stronger PBS stations would end up sharing the channel space with the weaker PBS stations in markets where there are multiple PBS affiliates in the same market. The mid-sized and smaller TV markets could end up carrying 2 to 3 subchannel feeds in widescreen SDTV or HDTV on the same channel frequency. I would recommend that all the TV stations that are now on the UHF 14-51 band in digital that were on 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 in analog be forced to move on 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 in digital and all the TV stations that are now on the UHF 14-51 band in digital that were on 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30 in analog be forced to move back to those channels in digital plus all the TV stations that are now on the VHF 7-13 high band with different RF physical channel numbers on the VHF high band in digital that were on 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 in analog to be forced to move back to those channels in digital as the best way to not mess up on frequency assignments in the future maybe by around 2020. I like the idea of all the TV stations be allowed to transmit all HDTV and SDTV as well as mobile programming in the MPEG 4 format in the future maybe by around 2020. I like the idea of both IVI TV and FilmOn HDi be allowed to go in business again and be able to transmit all the local stations to the viewers on the net for free without any interference from the government for violating any copyright laws with benefits for online viewers that want to watch their favorite stations programming such as local news and shows even after the spectrum auction and plan becomes very mandated and very hard for TV stations to be able to stay on the air without being able to stream all their programming online to the viewers online. Me wanting IVI TV and FilmOn HDi transmitting the locals online for free to the viewers on the internet would be very beneficial when it comes to very severe weather outbreaks and breaking news that the viewers would want to be very informed the sooner and the better as a public service to all online users and all television stations in the future. I’m afraid that my take of what channels the TV stations ought to be on with the planning of an spectrum auction. Thank you for my understanding to this crisis in the TV business lately as it relates to the spectrum crunch going on right now. My comment to this matter is not a negative attack but a opinion and theory on my own terns to the spectrum auction in the future.