Three Incentive Auction Bills Introduced In Congress

It’s no secret that: (a) the Federal Communications Commission would like to re-purpose already-occupied broadcast TV spectrum for broadband use; (b) many (if not most) of the folks who currently occupy that spectrum are not particularly keen on the idea; and (c) the FCC figures that any broadcaster resistance to spectrum re-purposing might be softened by the siren song of a big payday, with the cash coming out of the proceeds of an auction of the re-purposed spectrum. The FCC’s problem (also not a secret) is that it doesn't have the statutory authority to promise any auction proceeds to licensees who relinquish their spectrum. It’s obviously time (with apologies to Stephen Sondheim) to . . . send in the legislators! Already, three bills have been introduced this year that would allow the Commission to spread the spectrum wealth around; reports of still more bills in the works continue to surface. (This is in addition to several bills introduced last year.)

First into the mix this year was S.415 (a/k/a the Spectrum Optimization Act). A short and sweet four-page bill from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), it would give the FCC the authority to conduct auctions of spectrum that is “voluntarily relinquished by a licensee”, with “a portion” of the proceeds being shared with relinquishing licensees.

On the House side, we have H.R.911 (dubbed the Spectrum Inventory and Auction Act of 2011) introduced by Rep. John Barrow (D-GA). This, too, would give the FCC the authority to conduct incentive auctions. But before such auctions could be conducted, the FCC and the NTIA would first have to complete an exhaustive broadband spectrum inventory report which would have to be made public and updated semi-annually. The report would be no walk in the park: it would have to detail federal and non-federal uses of the spectrum and describe (among other things) the types of receivers in use, the geographic distribution of the various uses, and the frequency of use.

Back on the Senate side, we have S.455, the Reforming Airwaves by Developing Incentives and Opportunistic Sharing Act – or “RADIOS Act” – co-sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). This bad boy weighs in at a much heftier 51 pages. It follows up on a similar bill these two senators co-sponsored last year. According to Kerry’s website, this year’s edition is “comprehensive spectrum reform legislation to modernize our nation’s radio spectrum planning, management, and coordination activities.”