A bill by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., would set a...
A bill by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., would set a schedule for FCC voluntary incentive auctions of broadcaster spectrum. S-415 was introduced Thursday night and referred to the Commerce Committee. Warner’s Spectrum Optimization Act would authorize the auctions and require…
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the FCC to start them within two years of the bill’s enactment. Within 180 days, the commission would be required to write rules “for the conduct of auctions of licensed spectrum that is voluntarily relinquished by a licensee for assignment of new initial licenses subject to new service rules or for other purposes, in which a portion of the auction proceeds are shared with such relinquishing licensees, consistent with the public interest in maximizing utilization of the spectrum.” The bill would require FCC rules to identify the initial spectrum bands eligible for incentive auctions, minimize the cost to taxpayers of spectrum transitions, and set a maximum revenue-sharing figure, “unless the establishment of such threshold would increase the amount of spectrum cleared or would increase the net revenue from the auction of such spectrum.” The measure aims to provide the auctions with a clear path and a time frame for action and to minimize costs to taxpayers, said a spokesman for Warner. The bill’s provisions could be worked into broader spectrum legislation, he said. The legislation doesn’t deal with public safety specifically, but it wouldn’t preclude the use of auction proceeds for the public safety network, he said. Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., of the Senate Commerce Committee has filed a bill that would use proceeds for the purpose. At a hearing of the committee last week (CD Feb 17 p5), Warner said he, unlike Rockefeller, supports an auction of the 700 MHz D-block.