Auction Comment, White Spaces NPRMs Next for Incentive Auction, Says Task Force

Rulemaking notices seeking comment on preserving white space channels and on the mechanics of the incentive auction are next “in the immediate pipeline” in the FCC’s march toward the auction, auction Task Force Chairman Gary Epstein said at an FCBA brown-bag lunch Thursday. Though Epstein and Incentive Auction Vice Chair Howard Symons said no specific dates are available for when the items would be issued, Epstein suggested the items would be out “this fall” and affirmed that they were still working toward holding the auction in 2015. The task force heads also discussed their upcoming “road show” outreach effort to induce broadcasters to participate in the auction, which is also expected to begin soon. “We won’t have an auction unless broadcasters come to participate,” Epstein said.

The auction comment NPRM will “set forth a lot of the specifics on how the auction will actually work,” Epstein said. It will seek comment on the specifics of the algorithms to be used for conducting the reverse and forward auctions, the benchmark amounts for determining the auction's final stages, the definition of what constitutes an impaired market, and the methodology for determining prices, among other things, Epstein and Symons said. The auction comment NPRM is an effort to iron out specifics on policies the commission already adopted in the auction report and order, Epstein said. The Wireless Bureau typically issues auction comment notices before an auction, but the incentive auction version will be issued as a full commission decision because it is “new and novel,” Epstein said.

The preserve white space channels NPRM will seek comment on keeping one white space channel free after the repacking for use as unlicensed spectrum and by wireless microphones, Epstein said. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has made a commitment to preserving such a channel, Epstein said. He and Symons declined to comment on what proposals might be in the NPRM, and Symons said it needs further development before it's ready for discussion.

The task force is also preparing to meet with broadcasters to discuss the incentive auction pricing estimates it released in the “Greenhill Book” information packets two weeks ago. Referred to by Symons as a "road show," the outreach effort will include a series of town-hall meeting-style gatherings with broadcasters throughout the country, combined with confidential individual meetings with broadcasters who request them. “We have already gotten a fair amount” of incoming requests for information from broadcasters, Symons said. He said the task force hasn't determined whether the town hall-style meetings would be open to the public: “We’re working on the structure.” Symons again said the FCC will share personalized price estimates for individual stations with broadcasters requesting them, using the same “high end” calculations in the Greenhill book. While those estimates don’t represent the actual prices that will be offered in the auction, Symons said broadcasters will know their opening bid price in advance of their committing to the auction, and will be able to walk away if their price dips below that opening offer in subsequent rounds. The availability of estimates tailored to individual stations will be “very encouraging” to broadcasters, said Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition Executive Director Preston Padden.

The task force is still planning for a mid-2015 incentive auction, because that’s the time frame set up by Wheeler, Epstein said. “He also said it’s important to get it right,” Epstein said, acknowledging the auction faces “external events’ such as court challenges from Sinclair and NAB. “We’re still working toward our goal,” he said.