Carriers, Broadcasters Seek Repacking Flexibility; GatesAir 'Buy American' Request Unlikely to Happen

“The plan cannot succeed if it does not anticipate that many, many adjustments will be needed,” Sinclair said. “If there is no plan to accommodate those adjustments in place before repacking starts, they must be accommodated nonetheless, and almost certainly with less efficiency than if a process for adjustments was in place.” Carriers, concerned that the 600 MHz spectrum be cleared quickly so they can start using the spectrum for wireless broadband, called on the FCC not to back down or weaken its rules, but also to allow for flexibility.

GatesAir's request for incentives that would make it less likely for broadcasters to use foreign parts or labor in the repacking would reduce the amount of resources available to stations already predicting a resource crunch, broadcast attorney Jack Goodman said in an interview. It's already expected that broadcasters will have to compete for tower crews and antenna manufacturers, and restricting that pool to only domestic companies would further complicate the problem, said Pillsbury Winthrop broadcast attorney Scott Flick. With fewer resources to meet the demand, prices are likely to rise, further straining the reimbursement budget, Flick pointed out. Repacking stations quickly is one of the FCC's “highest priorities,” Flick said. Limiting the pool of available vendors and crews would make that priority less achievable, he said. It's also not clear that the agency would have the authority to impose such a policy, Goodman said.

T​he FCC repacking plan is “too rigid,” Sinclair said. “The simultaneous transition of 1,000 or more television stations cannot be accomplished within 39 months of the date on which new channel assignments are issued,” the broadcaster said. “The Commission should acknowledge this and plan appropriately rather than proceed based on a fiction.” The FCC also should structure the plan so that stations have incentives to cooperate with each other, Sinclair said.

The transition plan should “promote agility and flexibility in response to challenges both predictable and unforeseen,” NAB said. Cohen Dippell said the commission's 39-month deadline is unrealistic, echoing similar comments by NAB and Sinclair. “To modify the current licensed DTV channel for a substantial number of the approximately 1100 full service and Class A stations that is based on current FCC criteria is difficult, if not impossible, to visualize,” the broadcast engineering firm said. “The Commission should also revisit its 39-month deadline for the completion of the transition,” NAB said. “Numerous commenters have expressed concern that the Commission’s repacking plan makes overly optimistic assumptions concerning the availability of resources and potential sources of delay.”

LPTV

Several low-power TV broadcasters said the transition plan ignored the effects of the repacking plan on LPTV stations.

By adding language that would allow LPTV and TV translator stations to use temporary channels, remain off air for more than 12 months and specify transmitter sites up to 250 miles from their current location, the FCC could “extend a much needed lifeline to these broadcast services that find themselves in a perilous position,” said Northeast Gospel Broadcasting, Grace Worship Center, EICB-TV West and the Advanced Television Broadcasting Alliance in a joint filing.

Free Access & Broadcast Telemedia and EICB-TV East jointly said they support the FCC stance against temporary channels for full-power stations, but said the commission should make such channels available to LPTV stations.

Carriers Comment

The FCC’s proposed repacking plan “prioritizes the clearing of the 600 MHz band while simultaneously providing a reasoned approach for managing the process,” CTIA commented. Commenters “broadly agree” the plan is “workable and should, with some modifications suggested in the record, be adopted to allow for an effective and expeditious clearing of the 600 MHz band for mobile broadband services,” CTIA said.

CTIA sought a few tweaks, including the hiring of a project manager to oversee and manage the post-auction process and other steps aimed at promoting greater transparency. CTIA said the FCC should divide the relocation process into 10 distinct phases. “Without a segmented timeline, all broadcasters would simultaneously be competing amongst one another to obtain and schedule resources without a rational and efficient methodology to distribute these valuable inputs,” the group said. The FCC also should clarify that temporary measures taken by broadcasters during the transition, including provisional antennas, transmitters and channel sharing, are fully reimbursable, CTIA said. The agency should provide an expedited process for broadcasters to obtain modifications to their final channel assignments, the group also said.

The Competitive Carriers Association similarly encouraged the FCC to keep its focus on quick clearance of the broadcast band. “CCA echoes broadcasters’ requests to relax the Commission’s prohibited communications rules with respect to Transition Plan coordination,” the group said in reply comments. “In recognizing the dire need for suitable and available wireless spectrum, the Bureau must remain focused on clearing the 600 MHz band as soon as possible, no later than the FCC-established 39-month timeline, and in the most efficient, seamless manner possible.”

CCA President Steve Berry emphasized that much is at stake for his members. “Many competitive carriers have dedicated significant resources to acquiring low-band spectrum in the auction and should have timely access to this valuable resource for the benefit of their businesses, the economy, and most especially, consumers,” Berry said in a news release.

T-Mobile, which has made clear repeatedly it views 600 MHz spectrum as critical to its future, also encouraged the FCC to move the repacking process forward quickly. The agency should “rely on the data and evidence in the record rather than worst-case scenario ideations in finalizing the Transition Plan,” T-Mobile commented. The FCC should also “sparingly grant broadcaster requests for construction deadline waivers based only on critical need.” The transition “will undoubtedly face challenges,” but the plan proposed by the FCC “is robust and flexible enough to adapt without condemning the entire process to failure,” T-Mobile said. Since the plan assigns a roughly equal number of stations to each phase of the transition, “there should be ample structural resources to meet demand at any given time,” the carrier said. “Likewise, while broadband auxiliary antennas will not need to be installed for each station on day one of Phase One, the Plan provides manufacturers with the assurance that at least 75 percent of stations will need them. Thus, factories can start production immediately.”