NABOB Asks FCC To Delay Vacant Channel Decision
The FCC should delay deciding to reserve a vacant channel for unlicensed use until after the incentive auction and repacking, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters said in a letter posted Tuesday in docket 15-146. The FCC's claim the…
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reserved vacant channel will have little impact because there will be two vacant channels in most markets is “only speculation,” NABOB said. “The only appropriate action for the Commission to take at this time is to hold off any reassignment of television channels to unlicensed services until it knows the needs of its licensed services.” The FCC's vacant channel plan has the potential to “severely harm African American and other minority television station ownership, especially in the largest markets where minorities tend to live,” NABOB said. The FCC “should do everything it can to keep the small number of African American owned [low-power] TV stations on the air after the auction,” NABOB said. “Giving away channels that may be needed by those stations goes completely against that objective.” Carriers and technology companies have sought a vacant channel for use with devices in unlicensed spectrum (see 1511020059).