National Association of Broadcasters to FCC: Keep Incentive Auction Simple

The National Association of Broadcasters criticized the Federal Communications Commission's plan for the reverse auction it plans to use to buy TV spectrum from broadcasters earl in 2016, saying that it adds "layers of complexity and uncertainty to an already inherently complicated auction." Rather than relying on academics and attempting to address every ancillary issue, the trade group said in formal FCC comments on the incentive auction planning, that the agency should follow the road map it used in the just-completed AWS-3 auction that yielded $40 billion. In particular, the NAB made three recommendations:

1. The FCC should drop its proposed used of dynamic reserve pricing
2. The FCC should abandon its proposal to allow 20 percent variability in its band plan
3. The FCC should offer wireless carriers as much nationwide, paired, unencumbered spectrum as possible