FCC Seen Likely to Grant Request for Early Repacking in Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands
The FCC is considered likely to grant requests from stations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for permission to move to their post-auction channel assignments early (see 1711150038), Gray Miller broadcast attorney Todd Gray told us. Two more TV stations in Puerto Rico joined the group of 15 stations in Puerto Rico and one in the U.S. Virgin Islands requesting the relief Friday, according to a letter in docket 16-306.
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Of the stations being repacked in the storm-affected area, just two in Puerto Rico and one in the U.S. Virgin Islands didn’t sign on to the request. If the FCC grants the request, it could do so before year-end, said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Davina Sashkin, who represents many of the broadcasters involved. Licensee Ana G. Méndez University System said in a letter to the FCC Friday it might be possible to restore stations’ service on their current channels, but “full restoration of service would best be made on the reassignment channels.”
The FCC Incentive Auction Task Force declined to comment on the specific request, but a task force spokesman said the FCC has considered and approved several requests for broadcasters to change repacking phases. Applications also have been granted for broadcasters seeking to repack before phase one, as the broadcasters in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin islands asked. The task force reviews phase change requests case by case to judge how they will affect the entire transition, and views them more favorably if all the stations affected sign on to the request, the spokesman said.
Since Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are geographically isolated from the continental United States, changes to their repacking phases won’t have much “daisy chain” effect on other broadcasters, Sashkin said. Channel moves could affect other stations on Puerto Rico, but the island’s mountainous features also minimize that concern, she said.
The stations want to repack early to save resources and time, Sashkin said. Since many of the stations involved were in phase 3, they wouldn’t have been allowed to move to their new channel until 2019, so they would have had to rebuild their damaged facilities to broadcast on their current channel, and then retool again to broadcast on their new frequencies. Since the damaged stations already are operating at reduced times and with reduced power due to the problems with Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, it makes more sense to do the necessary work of moving to a new channel now, she said.
By combining the rebuilding effort with the repacking, the affected broadcasters also will be able to use repacking reimbursement funds toward repairing their stations, Sashkin said. FCC staff had expressed concern that early repacking on Puerto Rico could put extra pressure on the limited number of tower crews, but those crew also would have been needed to repair stations staying on their current channels, Gray said. If the early repacking request is granted, that work won’t have to be done twice, Gray said. The stations also asked the agency to provide leeway with repacking deadlines and special temporary authority requests.
No one filed in opposition to the stations’ request, and T-Mobile expressed support for the plan in a letter last month (see 1711220053).