National Association of Broadcasters Tells FCC Not to 'Mandate' White Spaces

The National Association of Broadcasters has told the Federal Communications Commission not to force Low-Power Television stations and translators to share channels so it can use the freed-up spectrum for unlicensed use.

In a filing on the FCC's incentive auction framework, the NAB was responding to a proposal by Public Knowledge that a way to free up more unlicensed spectrum through the upcoming incentive auction would be to mandate channel sharing by LPTVs and translators -- which relay primary TV station signals to hard-to-reach areas. NAB says that it is OK with unlicensed use of white spaces that are actually spaces between channels, but not with "altering" spectrum rights to create those spaces to the detriment of licensed services.