Multiple FCC Incentive Auction Stages Not Necessarily a Boon to ATSC 3.0

While the FCC broadcast incentive auction lasting into multiple stages would appear to give supporters of ATSC 3.0 more time to finish their standard and secure regulatory approval before the repacking, boosters for the new standard told us they don't see it that way. “I don't see more time as a positive or negative for the standard's adoption,” said Sinclair Vice President-Advanced Technology Mark Aitken, an advocate for the new standard. “I don't think it helps anybody for things to go slowly,” said ATSC President Mark Richer. “It was never a concern that anybody would be waiting on ATSC 3.0.” ATSC recently announced the completion of some additional layers for the new standard (see 1610050056).

Aitken, Richer and One Media Executive Vice President Legal Affairs Jerald Fritz want the 3.0 standard approved in time to coincide with the repacking, so broadcasters replacing their equipment with federal reimbursement funds could buy ATSC 3.0-compatible tech. Meanwhile, the ongoing reverse phase of the second stage of the incentive auction will likely conclude next week, broadcast attorneys and FCC officials told us. That likely means at least another month before the subsequent forward auction phase or possibly the auction as whole could conclude, though broadcast officials told us few believe the latter will occur.

Aitken agreed that as the auction keeps going, the FCC gets more time to get around to the standard. He doesn't think that's necessarily important. “We've always said there would be an alignment between the repack and ATSC 3.0 adoption, this just raises the probability slightly,” Aitken said. The agency didn't comment.

Though the commission hasn't approved the new standard, Richer and numerous broadcast officials said they expect it to take up the matter once complicated issues such as the set-top box proceeding are resolved. Several broadcast officials said they have hopes ATSC 3.0 will be approved by the end of the year. With many analysts forecasting the auction ending in early 2017, this would allow the repacking and the new standard's adoption to be coordinated. There are no difficult technical issues that would hold up FCC OK of the new standard, Richer said. The agency “is moving more slowly than we would like,” Richer conceded.

The Incentive Auction Task Force's recently released repacking plan doesn't appear to interfere with the plan for the new standard, Fritz told us. Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake said the repacking plan wouldn't interfere with broadcasters seeking to use relocation funds to replace equipment rendered obsolete by the repacking with ATSC 3.0-compatible equipment (see 1610040076). The phased system might be a problem for all broadcasters, Aitken told us, describing it as an imposition of additional time constraints on broadcasters with little notice.