AT&T, Inc., reiterated several concerns it has leading up to and following the FCC’s incentive auction, including the FCC’s 39-month repacking time line. But the Competitive Carriers Association submitted a study to the Commission that said that the transition period is feasible. “We are less than 60 days from the start of the auction and forward auction bidders still have had no direct access to the new and complicated software package that will control this auction,” said Joan Marsh, vice president-federal regulatory for AT&T, in a blog posting. “Practice rounds with the software are essential and while the FCC has made clear bidders will get practice rounds, it appears that we won’t get them until after the auction opens and the initial band plan is released, which likely means not until May. That will give us little time to incorporate the learnings from the practice round before bidders are qualified and the official mock auction begins. And it’s unclear what will happen if software glitches during the practice rounds raise questions about the path to the summit.”
Ms. Marsh noted that AT&T has “been vocal about our concerns around the post-auction repacking plan. Our analysis suggests that after a successful auction, on average, over 800 stations will need to move to a new channel assignment. While the actual post-auction station count could be larger or smaller, it’s pretty clear that the repacking will be a big, complicated, challenging lift. And the challenge won’t stop at our borders – while the U.S. repacks, our Canadian and Mexican neighbors will need to repack with us or our border markets could be frozen.
“The FCC has established a 39-month deadline to complete the repacking but there is no analytical framework behind that deadline,” she complained. “A recent analysis from NAB argues the repacking could take much, much longer than the time allotted by the FCC. And history provides multiple cautionary tales on this issue – the DTV transition took over a decade and merited three legislative extensions and the 800 MHz rebanding process that has also taken a decade is still not complete at the borders.”
Ms. Marsh added, “Post-auction the FCC will need to move quickly to put in place an effective, efficient and optimized repacking plan that charts a rational course to get the repacking done and imposes realistic but enforceable deadlines. The risk of repacking delays will be born almost exclusively by the new 600 MHz licensees, who will have surrendered billions for their new licenses and who will want access to those licenses as expeditiously as feasible. We simply don’t have a decade to get the repacking done.”
But CCA submitted a study entitled, “Repacking of Broadcasters Can Be Completed in 39 Months.” It was written by Peter Cramton, an economics professor at the University of Maryland and an auction expert, and Darrell Hoy and David Malec, post-doctoral researchers in the school’s Economics Department. CCA said in a news release that “the study concludes that with careful planning and coordination of the post-Incentive Auction broadcaster transition process, the FCC can conduct the necessary repacking process within its planned 39-month period.”
“The findings in this study clearly demonstrate that the post-auction repack can be accomplished within the 39-month transition period, regardless of the clearing target and regardless of the number of stations that need to be repacked,” said Steve Berry, CCA’s president and chief executive officer. “The study carefully analyzed characteristics of the stations and estimates that between 756 and 888 stations will need to change channels – substantially less than a study conducted by Digital Tech Consulting, Inc., [for the National Association of Broadcasters] which relied on old data and failed to closely follow the FCC’s methodology.”
Mr. Berry added, “Another important aspect of the repack process is the number and availability of qualified tower crews. It is certainly no secret that tower crews will be needed for repacking, and companies are already planning for the increased demand on personnel, supplies and equipment. The FCC’s timeline provides plenty of advanced notice for service providers to meet this future demand, and the FCC certainly understands the importance of having a fixed deadline in the auction. With the findings in this study, competitive carriers will have more confidence that, even over a wide range of participation scenarios, the 39-month deadline can easily be met, and I strongly encourage the Commission to move forward with its current transition timeframe.”
The National Association of Broadcasters, citing the Digital Tech Consulting study, has asked the FCC to wait until after the auction to establish a repacking transition period (TRDaily, Nov. 9, 2015). “The conclusion of this study is that it will not be possible for all the assumed number of TV stations required to transition to new channels to do so within the stated FCC deadlines,” the Digital Tech Consulting report said. “In addition, this study concludes that the approach will result in a shortfall of funds for compensating broadcasters required to relocate to new channel assignments. The study concludes that the Commission’s three-month window for filing for construction permits (CP) falls well short of the actual time needed to submit and process the applications for the 860 to 1,164 stations that will likely be required to move to new channels. (This study estimates 12-18 months). Likewise, the study concludes it is not possible that an industrywide transition of such a large number of TV stations to new channels can be completed in the three-year window currently required. In fact, the study’s research and analysis estimates a far greater amount of time to accomplish the transitions. This study forecasts that, at best, between 297 and 445 stations can complete the required tasks in that time period, assuming normal conditions.” – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com
Courtesy TRDaily