T-Mobile to Fund Relocation of Displaced PBS Translators

An agreement between T-Mobile and PBS for the wireless company to pay for PBS low-power facilities displaced by the incentive auction to move to new channels isn’t seen as likely to pave the way for other large-scale agreements whereby wireless companies fund large numbers of broadcaster relocations, translator and low-power TV industry officials told us. There isn’t another large, “one-stop-shop” entity that owns hundreds of translators, said Jim McDonald, former president of the National Translator Association.

Under the arrangement, PBS will oversee the FCC displacement process for its 384 low-power facilities, and T-Mobile will foot the bill for the equipment and other costs of the moves, said an America’s Public Television Stations spokeswoman. Because they're low-power facilities, translators aren’t covered by the $1.75 billion repacking reimbursement fund. Industry officials familiar with the deal said T-Mobile benefits because the spectrum it bought in the incentive auction -- it was the biggest purchaser -- will be cleared for wireless use more quickly, but the agreement includes all displaced PBS low-power facilities, not just those occupying spectrum purchased by T-Mobile. The deal covers translators and the few PBS LPTV stations in 33 states, APTS said. The deal will help rural broadband improve faster, T-Mobile said in a news release. “Moves like this will help us expand our network into these underserved areas and give consumers a new level of wireless coverage and choice,” T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray said in the release.

T-Mobile’s assistance will come in the form of a grant to PBS, and won’t run afoul of the funding rules for noncommercial stations, said APTS general counsel Lonna Thompson. T-Mobile approached PBS with the idea of cooperating to speed the repacking, she said. APTS lobbied successfully for FCC rules that allowed low-power facilities to stay on their spectrum after the incentive auction until the forward auction bidders got around to building out their networks to take advantage of the new spectrum, Thompson said. APTS believed the rural areas where most PBS translators are would be the last built out, but after the auction T-Mobile announced plans to begin building out such areas first, Thompson said. That would have meant early displacement for many PBS translators, were it not for the arrangement with T-Mobile, Thompson said. The agreement takes effect now to facilitate the relocation for the first wave of displaced translators, nicknamed “phase zero,” Thompson said.

PBS stations are an important source of information in some remote areas that will benefit from the deal, said PBS Senior Director-Public Programs Dana Golb. Continued service also allows the stations to remain backups for wireless emergency alerts through the PBS Warning Alert and Response Network, Golb said.

PBS, T-Mobile and APTS declined to forecast how much the agreement would cost T-Mobile. Many variables affect each translator's relocation, making it extremely difficult to make such a broad prediction, McDonald said. Translator relocations could range from four to six figures, he said. With no single organization controlling as many translators as PBS, making this arrangement is relatively “low-hanging fruit” in T-Mobile’s effort to speed broadcasters vacating its spectrum, McDonald said. An official with knowledge of the PBS arrangement said T-Mobile has been seeking to cooperate with other broadcasters facing displacement, and an LPTV industry official said the company offered to facilitate the repacking efforts of some LPTV broadcasters, through offers of equipment and other resources. That strategy may not work as well in more-crowded areas, where the congestion on the spectrum may make it harder for broadcasters to quickly vacate spectrum, even if T-Mobile makes it worth their while, an industry official said. Since other wireless carriers didn’t buy as much spectrum as T-Mobile and haven’t been as vocal about their intentions to quickly build out their networks, it’s considered unlikely that other carriers would follow T-Mobile’s lead to fund broadcaster relocations, industry officials said.

"We are gratified to see T-Mobile embrace the principle that viewers should not lose service during the repack,” an NAB spokesman said. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai praised the “creative solution” offered by the T-Mobile/PBS agreement. “Today’s announcement is precisely the kind of cross-industry cooperation we need to ensure a smooth transition for broadcasters, wireless providers, and American consumers.” T-Mobile is “making an active effort,” said LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition Director Mike Gravino, praising T-Mobile for working with PBS and other broadcasters. “I hope they keep their checkbook open,” he said.