Wheeler Makes Case to Hill for Incentive Auction in Early 2016
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told lawmakers that the broadcast TV incentive auction should happen in early 2016, as he has been committing. “In addition to the competitive benefits of moving forward with the incentive auction, a convergence of forces is…
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building that strongly supports commencing the auction in early 2016,” Wheeler told House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in a March 11 letter released last week. Broadcaster interest “has gathered significant momentum,” Wheeler said, citing the agency’s outreach and pointing to the market demand shown by the bidding in the recent AWS-3 auction. And “the ‘beachfront’ character of 600 MHz band spectrum guarantees that providers will bid substantial sums for it,” Wheeler told Eshoo and Markey. Wheeler sent a different letter the same day to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., on the FCC’s dedication to revisiting the competitive bidding rules ahead of the incentive auction. "I remain committed to providing bona fide small businesses a meaningful opportunity to participate in FCC spectrum auctions -- including next year's incentive auction -- while protecting the integrity of our auction program,” Wheeler told McCaskill, who had blasted Dish Network’s “abuse” of the FCC designated entity rules.