Last year's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act charged the FCC with establishing an agenda to extend affordable broadband Internet access to the entire country. The Commission established a task force to research means of achieving that goal. That task force has presented its report, and the Commission has forwarded that report to Congress.
The National Broadband Plan is a rather lengthy 14-chapter document, downloadable from http://www.broadband.gov. I believe Chapter 5, “Spectrum”, is probably the most relevant to broadcasters and DXers.
In particular, Recommendation 5.8.5: “The FCC should initiate a rulemaking proceeding to reallocate 120 megahertz from the broadcast television (TV ) bands,...”
It proposes to achieve this through five steps:
Update rules on TV service areas and distance separations, allowing the revision of the Table of Allotments to more efficiently use TV spectrum.
Establish rules to allow two or more stations to share a channel.
Establish rules for auctioning broadcast spectrum reclaimed through these methods.
Consider additional alternatives, such as changes to technical standards or more extensive channel sharing, if necessary.
Take additional measures to increase spectrum efficiency.
The plan does not envisage the elimination of over-the-air television. It does however suggest the UHF spectrum is far more valuable for other services. It notes that spectrum in the channels 52-69 zone, auctioned in 2008, sold for an average of $1.28/MHz/person reached. The market value of TV spectrum is around 13¢/MHz/person.
The task force believes the FCC should:
Update the technical rules defining service areas and distance spacing. This may allow stations to operate closer together on the same or adjacent channels without creating interference. (my opinion: in some cases stations are already too close together – ds)
“Repack” assignments more efficiently, allowing existing stations to fit into a smaller number of channels.
Establish a framework to permit two or more stations to share a single channel. The task force believes two stations could transmit HD in a single 6MHz channel. (my opinion: I'm very skeptical of this. I can see an HD station sharing a channel with a SD station, or multiple SDs sharing, but I don't think HD set owners are going to appreciate multiple HDs on a single channel. - ds)
Auction off spectrum freed by repacking and voluntary channel sharing. Stations agreeing to sacrifice some spectrum for auction would receive a cut of the revenue and would be entitled to reimbursement for expenses. (for example, for replacing an antenna to move to a different channel)
Establish a deadline for digital transition of LPTV stations by the end of 2015.
Improve VHF reception, by increasing power limits or establishing minimum receiver and antenna standards. The idea is to discourage VHF DTV stations from seeking UHF allotments – those UHF allotments are more valuable for wireless broadband.
If additional spectrum transfer proves necessary, the task force suggests:
Switching from the current “single large transmitter” model to a “cellular” model.
Auctioning “secondary” rights to TV channels; winners could negotiate with broadcasters to clear their bands.
Mandatory channel sharing.
The task force proposes a rather speedy deadline for this action. It believes the Commission should complete rulemaking no later than the end of next year; auction reallocated spectrum in 2012; and clear reallocated spectrum by 2015.