As over-the-air broadcasters shifted to new frequencies, consumers had to rescan their televisions to find their channels again. Nonetheless, the 39-month repack phase posed a potential disruption for broadcast television viewers. That additional allocation will pay dividends for consumers, as domestic carriers race to roll out 5G technology. By reorganizing the broadcast licenses, an additional 84 megahertz (MHz) was made available for emerging wireless technology. By balancing these two auctions, the FCC used market forces to allocate spectrum for its most efficient use among competing interests.įor consumers, the process resulted in even greater spectrum for new emerging wireless technology. In the forward auction stage, the soon-to-be vacant spectrum was auctioned under flexible licenses that can be used to provide mobile broadband. In a reverse auction, an equilibrium price was determined by the FCC and broadcasters who were willing to relinquish their licenses. Speaking at the ACI webinar, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai detailed how this process employed the world’s first two-sided auction for spectrum rights. To keep up with the needs of evolving technology, and to make sure that the nation’s spectrum is being put to its best use, the FCC embarked on an almost five-year process of repurposing and reorganizing frequencies previously used for broadcast television.
The FCC is tasked with managing licensed and unlicensed access to these frequencies (collectively known as ‘spectrum’). Technology such as cell phones and wireless internet relies on reliable and uninterrupted access to dedicated radio frequencies. To ensure that the nation’s infrastructure is ready to support emerging wireless technology, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently completed a spectrum ‘repack.’ In a webinar hosted earlier this week by the American Consumer Institute (ACI), representatives from the FCC and various industries detailed how the repack process carefully balanced the interests of consumers, businesses, and the federal government. Ultimately though, the faster this repacking process takes place, clearing this fresh spectrum to be put into service, the sooner we see the true benefits of this historic auction.Radio waves may be invisible to the naked eye, but the regulated spectrum of frequencies is one of America’s most important resources. This “repacking”-overseen by the FCC-will be a complicated, coordinated process achieved over a number of phases to minimize disruption to broadcasters. Before this can happen, affected broadcasting services have to be re-organized to fit within remaining spectrum. The benefits to mobile users and the economy flow not just from spectrum being transferred, but its actual use-equipment must be built out and turned on. It is a testament to the two-sided auction as a mechanism for reallocating spectrum. While the $19.63 billion bidding total might not be as eye-popping as some had imagined, this auction was a success and transferred a significant amount of spectrum to highly valued mobile broadband services. The FCC and other stakeholders should work together to ensure the hasty deployment of this spectrum so that consumers and the entire economy can reap the benefits as quickly as possible. With the incentive auction drawing to a close, it’s time to look forward to what is next. WASHINGTON-The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a leading science and tech policy think tank, today released the followed statement from Telecom Policy Analyst Doug Brake urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and broadcasters to keep the forward momentum as the incentive auction comes to a close:
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