Wireless Carriers, Broadcasters Clash on Calls for Channel 51 Freeze

All 13 filings from commercial and public broadcasters and full-service and low-power stations in rulemaking 11626 opposed the changes urged in the carrier petition. The request raises no issues that weren’t settled prior to 2008’s 700 MHz auction, broadcasters said.

RCA said dealing with Channel 51 issues is critical to the roll out of next-generation wireless, as recommended in the National Broadband Plan. “In the current regulatory environment, Lower A Block licensees are unable to vigorously implement deployment of advanced broadband networks because of uncertainty surrounding the interference risks of Channel 51 operators,” RCA said. The FCC already took a key step April 7 when it approved data roaming rules, the group said: “By resolving Channel 51 interference issues and interoperability … the Commission can truly free 700 MHz band licensees to make the most of their spectrum."

"The Commission has complete authority to implement freezes on the acceptance, processing and grant of applications for new or modified TV 51 broadcast facilities,” CTIA said. “The imposition of the freezes would be entirely consistent with past precedent.” CTIA cited as one example the freeze the regulator imposed last year as it considered uniform renewal requirements for wireless radio services licenses.

The risks posed by broadcast operations in Channel 51 are well established, AT&T said. “The lack of a guard band between Channel 51 and the A Block means that broadcast operations in Channel 51 pose a substantial interference threat to mobile systems deployed in the A Block,” the carrier said. “Many A Block licensees, equipment manufacturers, and other 700 MHz licensees have already documented the substantial risk of interference from Channel 51 broadcast operations to wireless broadband.” Verizon Wireless made similar arguments: “Minimizing the obstacles A Block Licensees face is critical to meet the broadband policy objectives of the Commission in the 700 MHz block.” Cellular South, which holds 14 lower A-block licenses, said without a freeze companies could apply for Channel 51 licenses “merely as a means of shaking down Lower Block A providers for cash payments or other consideration."

Broadcasters counter that all types of TV stations stand to be hurt if the FCC approves the wireless groups’ request to speed up efforts to get them off channel 51. Besides, they contended, CTIA and RCA raised no new issues not already resolved by FCC orders prior to the 700 MHz auction or rules for that auction. Such previous rulings include a 2004 commission order on the DTV transition, the NAB and Association for Maximum Service TV said jointly. Full-power stations went digital in 2009, while many low-power and translator stations remain in analog. The New Jersey Pubic Broadcasting Authority, licensee of WNJN Montclair on Channel 51, “struggled -- mightily” to go all-digital, it said: That PBS station shouldn’t “now be inhibited or prevented from fully utilizing its Channel 51 license in any way."

The FCC studied the potential for interference between stations on Channel 51 and A-block licensees “on multiple occasions,” NAB and MSTV said. A 2002 order in preparation for the digital transition and forthcoming spectrum auction didn’t adopt a guard band because it relied on interference criteria to protect TV stations, the groups said. The agency gave “new wireless entrants flexibility in addressing potential interference situations when designing and developing their wireless systems,” NAB and MSTV said. “Although the Commission was referring to interference protection of core TV broadcast services in this particular context, inherent in the Commission’s overall approach was the reliance on new wireless entrants to develop and deploy systems that would accommodate potential interference between broadcast stations on Channel 51 and wireless services in the 700 MHz band, regardless of the source of interference.”

"The FCC could not have been more clear since its original 700 MHz auction proceeding when it stated that the companies bidding on A Block Channel 52 licenses would be required to protect channel 51 TV stations,” Sinclair said. That covered “later arrivals” to that slot, said the owner of two stations on Channel 51. “The bidders were thus aware of the risk of the potential for incoming interference from Channel 51 TV operations,” the company said: “The mobile wireless providers bought the spectrum ‘as is’ and buyer’s remorse is an insufficient excuse to support the Petitioners’ unprecedented requests.”

A group of low-power stations on Channel 51 said A-block winners are trying to get more than what they paid for. The petitioners seek “to exercise control over more spectrum than they bought,” said DTV America, Image Video Teleproductions, Indiana Wesleyan University, Las Americas Supermercado and WatchTV. Many translator stations that need to move from Channels 52-69 “are struggling with channel availability problems,” said the National Translator Association. “Service to areas that do not have over-the-air TV reception will be severely adversely affected by the loss of or restrictions on the use of Channel 51."

The FCC sold the A-block in 214 12-MHz chunks, with both small and large carriers winning licenses in the 700 MHz auction. The costs varied widely, from less than $1 million in smaller markets to Verizon Wireless’s winning bid of more than $580 million for a license covering the Los Angeles area.