FCC Approves Channel-Sharing, Interservice Interference, Commence Operations Rules
Three incentive auction items that had been on the agenda for Thursday’s FCC meeting were approved and won’t be part of Thursday’s session, agency officials said in interviews. An item involving proposed rules for broadcaster channel sharing was released Wednesday after being approved by the full commission. Rules on interference after the auction between wireless carriers in the 600 MHz band and broadcasters, and an item defining when broadcasters and unlicensed users need to vacate their spectrum to make way for the new wireless owners, have also been approved, they said.
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The rapid approval of the items is part of the FCC effort to complete all the tasks leading up to the incentive auction on time, an official said. There are no dissents from any of the items, said a commission official. The auction begins March 29.
A second order on reconsideration on channel sharing will allow broadcasters to reach contingent channel sharing agreements with other broadcasters in the same market, FCC officials told us. The item is intended to provide a contingency for situations where two broadcasters agree to channel share after the auction with the understanding that whichever station’s spectrum is purchased first would agree to be hosted by the second station, which would in turn drop out of the auction. The order will allow agreements to include “back-up” hosts in the event stations in such an agreement both have their spectrum purchased at almost the same time. The channel-sharing order also provides more time for successful bidders to move to the new shared facilities after the auction.
Channel sharees will have six months after receiving their auction proceeds instead of three to move to their new facilities, the order said. “While three months for termination of operations is sufficient for go off-air winners who intend to relinquish their licenses and cease broadcasting altogether, we recognize that winning bidders that plan to share a channel will remain in operation and may therefore need more time.” They can also request two three-month extensions, which will be viewed “favorably” as long as they don’t “delay the post-auction transition,” the order said.
A report and order on when 600 MHz band wireless licensees are considered to have commenced operations takes into account wireless industry calls to accommodate testing of their new spectrum, FCC and broadcast industry officials told us. The FCC had previously proposed that wireless carriers commence operations when they begin site activation, and commissioning tests using permanent equipment and antennas. CTIA had urged the FCC to peg commencement to market testing in areas where wireless carriers perform such tests. The item adopted by the commission is a compromise that will allow wireless carriers to market test, FCC and industry officials told us. CTIA and the Incentive Auction Task Force declined to comment.
A third report & order and first order on recon on interservice interference will limit the ability of broadcasters to expand the contours of their station to a one-time, 1 percent increase after the auction, FCC and industry officials told us. That increase is intended to account for changes caused by new technology shifts such as ATSC 3.0, officials said. Beyond that expansion, a broadcaster would need wireless carriers affected by future contour changes to agree to them, FCC officials told us. Meanwhile, they said that wireless carriers aren’t allowed to interfere with anyone’s reception of broadcast signals.