If Verizon Wireless and AT&T are barred from...
If Verizon Wireless and AT&T are barred from bidding in the incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum, auction revenue is likely to be 40 percent lower than if they were allowed to bid, driving down proceeds as much as $12…
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billion for 102 MHz of spectrum, said a paper released Tuesday by the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. Lower revenue could mean fewer broadcasters sell their licenses and less spectrum is converted to wireless broadband, the paper said. “It has been estimated that a robust auction for the entire 120 MHz of broadcast spectrum (which translates into only 102 MHz actually available for use by wireless providers) could generate $31 billion in proceeds,” the paper concludes (http://bit.ly/11A46h6). “Removing the two largest providers from the auction could reduce auction revenues from $31 billion to $19 billion, of which $7B would be directed to FirstNet and $2 billion to expenses such as repacking, leaving only $10 billion available to compensate broadcasters. If $10 billion is less than what broadcasters’ want in exchange for the full 120 MHz, fewer frequencies would be transferred, further reducing revenues.” The FCC is examining whether to limit bidding by the nation’s largest carriers in some markets as it develops rules for the auction. The authors are Robert Shapiro, chairman of Sonecon, which has advised AT&T, Google and other companies, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, and Coleman Bazelon of the Brattle Group, who has consulted for CEA and CTIA on spectrum.