Administration Backs Spectrum Search

It is looking more and more likely that the National Broadband Plan will include directions to the nearest available spectrum. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and his broadband team have made it clear that while there is no immediate spectrum crisis, they foresee one by mid-decade, and planning for it needs to start now. Broadband advisor Blair Levin recently said that the FCC's plans don't threaten the future of broadcasting, but he added that said future did not necessarily justify using all of that spectrum all the time. Last week, the sense of urgency got the backing of the Obama administration with a one-two punch that could be aimed at incumbent spectrum users, including broadcasters. In filings to the FCC on the upcoming broadband plan, both the Justice Department and the Obama administration—via its chief telecom advisor, the National Telecommunications & Information Administration—said the FCC needed to get its hands on a lot more spectrum. Both agencies framed the push as critical to broadband competition and deployment. While neither singled out broadcasting, the Justice Department in particular was clear that the FCC's first job was to find spectrum being underutilized in terms of its current value versus prospective value to wireless uses.