[opendtv] Bill Aims to Stifle Involuntary TV Spectrum Reclamation
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2010 15:13:25 -0500
http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/104476
Bill Aims to Stifle Involuntary TV Spectrum Reclamation
by Doug Lung, 08.05.2010.
Last week Representative Rick Boucher from Virginia introduced a bill in the
U.S. House of Representatives cosponsored by Representative Cliff Stearns from
Florida that would prevent the FCC from reclaiming TV spectrum on involuntary
basis.
The bill states:
"The Federal Communications Commission shall not reclaim frequencies of
broadcast television licensees or any other licensees directly or indirectly on
an involuntary basis for the purpose of section 309(j)(8)(F) of the
Communications Act of 1934."
While the bill, H.R. 5947 does not specifically prohibit spectrum fees, the
language "directly or indirectly" appears to prevent the FCC from using fees to
"indirectly" force broadcasters to give up spectrum.
Dennis Wharton, NAB's executive vice president of communications, threw his
support to the bill.
"NAB salutes Chairman Boucher and Ranking Member Stearns for their vision on an
issue of vital importance to tens of millions of Americans who rely on local TV
stations for high-quality entertainment, niche programming and lifeline
emergency news and information," Wharton said. "As NAB has previously
articulated, we have no quarrel with incentive auctions that are truly
voluntary, and the Boucher/Stearns bill is a clear step in the right direction."
The bill does not address what will happen to broadcasters who are broadcasting
on channels that would be taken away for wireless broadband use. As I've
outlined before, broadcasters that have to change channels could incur
significant costs, especially if they have to avoid interruption to service on
their existing channel. Will those costs be reimbursed?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
- » [opendtv] Bill Aims to Stifle Involuntary TV Spectrum Reclamation - Manfredi, Albert E
