Boucher: No Forced Spectrum Removal

Speaking at the National Association of Broadcaster's State Leadership Conference, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) said, "Spectrum should not be taken away from broadcasters."

Instead, he said, broadcasters should be given an option to voluntarily surrender their spectrum for FCC auction and then receive some form of compensation for it. Chairman Boucher said the FCC's earlier proposal that would have forced broadcasters to turn over their spectrum to the FCC for broadband wireless use was "not constructive." The FCC, he added, is "on the right track" now that it is suggesting that broadcasters voluntarily sell their spectrum. Chairman Boucher later told reporters: "In the end it should be the broadcasters' choice as to whether or not to surrender spectrum; it should not be a decision imposed by the government."

As for whether broadcasters should get a share of the proceeds from an FCC auction, he said: "Obviously if the spectrum is surrendered, broadcasters' ability to earn the commercial returns will also be limited. It is only reasonable to expect that as a part of a negotiation, compensation be considered, and that they be compensated for that reduction in commercial return."