The FCC Is Redistributing Spectrum, Not Freeing It

[Commentary] In 2012, Congress authorized the Federal Communications Commission to reallocate 120 MHz -- 20 channels – of spectrum currently reserved for broadcast television through a voluntary auction, with the Treasury and the broadcasters sharing in the proceeds. But before it proceeds, the FCC needs a more realistic vision of spectrum use that accounts for the public's benefit from all types of users.

Its auction needs rules to recognize spectrum's different dynamic uses, not just broadband. The FCC's preoccupation with wireless broadband has pushed to the side any other use for the spectrum. But the agency's seeming indifference to TV broadcasting overlooks this medium's efficiency. Broadcasting uses a point-to-multipoint network architecture, meaning a high-power TV signal is transmitted from one tower and received by many receivers. The service area can span hundreds of square miles. Cellular service, or broadband, is point-to-point—from one location or person to another. It uses many small antenna sites, with low-power transmitters covering small areas. Broadcasting trounces cellular service in efficiency and reliability. Thanks to its structure, broadcasting can reach millions more people per unit of spectrum bandwidth used. The FCC should dispense with its usual spectrum prejudices before the 2015 auction. It should consider technological means that enable a broadcast or cellular licensee to share existing spectrum dynamically when not using it.

[Fowler was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under President Reagan]