Boucher, Stearns Say Bill Would Set Up ‘Truly Voluntary’ FCC Auctions
The FCC could use auction proceeds to pay spectrum users that voluntarily give up their frequencies, under bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. The narrowly written, three-page bill would help the U.S. achieve the National Broadband Plan’s goal of finding 500 MHz of spectrum for broadband in the next 10 years, said Boucher. “It’s great to see the movement in Congress we're seeing on incentive auctions,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in an interview.
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The measure would bar the commission from reclaiming “frequencies of broadcast television licensees or any other licensees directly or indirectly on an involuntary basis.” The provision would ensure that the auctions are “truly voluntary,” said Boucher. Stearns agreed: “No spectrum licensee, whether a broadcaster or wireless provider, should be forced to give up the spectrum they currently hold.” Boucher and Stearns would defer to the FCC concerning how much of the auction revenue should go to licensees that give up spectrum. The commission would have to set revenue-sharing rules within a year of the bill’s enactment.
The bill won the support of TV broadcasters, an industry whose spectrum was targeted by the broadband plan for reallocation. The Boucher-Stearns bill “is a clear step in the right direction,” said NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton. “We have no quarrel with incentive auctions that are truly voluntary.” The bill strikes “the proper public interest balance by providing a truly voluntary mechanism for those stations that may wish to surrender spectrum,” said President David Donovan of the Association for Maximum Service Television. “This approach recognizes the importance of free, over-the-air digital television to American consumers.” CTIA CEO Steve Largent also welcomed the bill, saying additional spectrum is needed to forestall a “looming spectrum crisis."
The FCC is “pleased to see consensus growing across government for the voluntary incentive auctions outlined in the National Broadband Plan,” a commission spokeswoman said. “This pro-investment spectrum strategy will spur economic growth, create jobs, and promote U.S. global leadership in mobile."
The Boucher-Stearns measure joins a smattering of other bills to authorize incentive auctions, including one being finalized by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a House Communications Subcommittee member. In the Senate, a spectrum measurement bill by Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, includes authorization of FCC voluntary auctions. Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is working on a bill to do the same (CD July 22 p1).