Delay TV Incentive Auction 10 Years for OFDM, Urges Broadcaster

The FCC should delay an incentive auction of TV spectrum for at least a decade to give broadcasters time to start using a more efficient signal modulation standard, a midsize broadcaster’s CEO said Friday. Jim Goodmon of Capitol Broadcasting, known as a maverick for pushing technology and other changes before broadcasters do, told us he thinks that the industry can soon agree to use OFDM to replace the AVS-B standard used for digital broadcasts.

CTIA, seeking additional spectrum for wireless broadband, said it disagrees with Goodmon’s position. Meanwhile, new details emerged about the FCC’s first webinar with broadcasters concerning the agency’s spectrum reallocation plans, held Thursday. “We want you to hear about the FCC’s incentive auction proposal from the source,” said a slide from the presentation we obtained from a participant. “Indirect accounts may not accurately describe the proposal or represent our intentions.” Low-power broadcasters said they left concerned that they may not get to put their stations up for auction.

"We do believe that there will be a time when broadcast spectrum will be available for nothing,” when TV stations can be packed in tighter together, Goodmon said at a Media Access Project conference. Changing modulation standards, which could occur in 10-12 years, would increase throughput “and it would allow us to be repacked side-by-side in fewer channels,” he said. “If we go to this new standard, and I think we almost all agree -- we've agreed in concept that this is the standard that we want -- then there will be a bunch of broadcast spectrum” that could be bought, Goodmon said. Broadcasters fear that repacking now could lead to greater interference or smaller coverage areas, creating problems delivering mobile DTV to portable devices for any stations choosing to move to the VHF band (CED March 11 p6).

Goodmon is “sure” that there will be an agreement on OFDM, he told us. “We can get ourselves into a mode that’s easily upgradable,” perhaps with software updates, he added. Capitol Broadcasting owns five TV stations, one of which was the first to broadcast in HD, and several radio stations, all in North Carolina. An NAB spokesman had no comment by our deadline on Goodmon’s remarks.

Broadcasters’ apparent reluctance to put their spectrum up for auction and split the proceeds with the government means that the FCC probably won’t reach its National Broadband Plan goal of reallocating 120 MHz of TV spectrum for wireless Internet service, Director Michael Calabrese of the New America Foundation said on a later panel. Calabrese, a proponent of white-spaces devices using the space between TV channels, said meeting the 120 MHz goal “seems unlikely, given some of the things we've heard today.” Meeting it requires “shrinking the coverage area of DTV stations” or “a very high participation rate” by broadcasters in the mobile futures auction envisioned by the broadband plan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, he said. “I think in the meantime we should not be slowing down this innovation for spectrum reuse” as “whatever we work out on the TV band, it’s going to be very complicated and take years."

The first white space devices could hit the market, for use in rural areas, late this year, Google Principal Alan Norman, expressing his personal opinion, told us in Q-and-A. He based the prediction on an expectation that white space devices will soon be online. “My expectation is the first services will be rural broadband,” Norman said. “I think you can repack and potentially preserve the ability” for white spaces use, he said on a panel.

Goodmon took several swipes at the broadband plan, saying it essentially left mobile DTV and broadcasting out as ways to deliver broadband. “We believe we're going to be a big part of broadband, so we should be a big part of the broadband plan,” he said during a lunch. “So leave us alone for a while. Let us develop mobile DTV.” Broadcasters were “left out” of the broadband plan, Goodmon said. “I have no idea why we were.” Goodmon pointed to Dish Network, Time Warner Cable and other companies he said were sitting on spectrum, to make the case that there’s a surplus, not a deficit, as auction proponents insist.

Goodmon is “completely off base” in seeking an auction delay, CTIA President Steve Largent said in a written statement. “He thinks that we should wait until broadcasters deploy mobile television, and then wait again until they transition to a new technology before we could get access to additional spectrum. He clearly is not seeing the same demand for products and services that wireless carriers are seeing.” Goodmon’s plan would have the U.S. lose “our global wireless leadership position as we wait on the sidelines while the rest of the world passes us by,” Largent added. The country can’t “afford to wait” 10 years, he said. “We certainly shouldn’t wait to repurpose a large swath of broadcaster spectrum, much of which goes completely unused in each market.”

"Broadcasters are always discussing long-term strategies that will help us maintain our competitive edge, and over time, we may evolve to a new transmission standard,” said an NAB spokesman. “We are also mindful that millions of our viewers less than two years ago were asked to swap out every TV set, and we want to minimize similar consumer disruptions in the future.” Goodmon said his plan doesn’t envision broadcasters moving from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 video compression, as broadband plan architect Blair Levin has sought.

For the FCC, broadcaster feedback on any auction “is important,” said a slide from Thursday’s webinar. It said that Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and Rebecca Hanson, the bureau’s expert on TV spectrum reclamation, spoke to state broadcaster groups. “We ask broadcasters to keep open minds as the proposal takes shape,” said a slide. Those who might be interested in taking part in the incentive auction include “station groups that want to right-size” or “release a few markets to strengthen remaining stations or invest in other businesses,” another slide said. A bureau spokeswoman had no comment on the presentation. It wasn’t open to the public.

"Demand for volunteers in mid- to smaller markets is less known today,” said a slide. It may depend “on the relationship of station value to broadband value of spectrum,” it said. Those who may want to participate also include “stations that derive most of their revenue from their primary stream,” which is relevant for channel-sharing, the presentation said. The auction will have “no relation between participation and broadcast license renewal,” another slide said: The FCC “would minimize time between offering spectrum and notification of successful tender (to minimize station’s ‘lock-up’ period).”