Ten Years Ago... Giving Away the Airwaves

GIVING AWAY THE AIRWAVES
[SOURCE: New York Times 3/27/1997, AUTHOR: Bob Dole]
[Commentary] Ten years ago, then former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-KS) decried the giveaway of valuable spectrum in order to help broadcast TV stations transition to digital technology. He valued the giveaway at $12-70 billion and noted the lack of coverage of the issue in the mainstream press. "The broadcasters insist that they need these airwaves -- on which they will duplicate their programming in digital -- to make the transition to high-definition television. O.K., but why not pay a fair price?" Dole wrote. As it is, this mandated transition to digital television is going to cost taxpayers plenty. Consumers will find their current televisions rendered obsolete by digital broadcasts. Replacing all 222 million TV sets in the country could cost upward of $200 billion. That's pretty serious sticker shock for ''free'' broadcast television. He concluded: "Taxpayers should demand better from the President, Congress, the F.C.C. and the broadcasters. After all, we're talking about billions of dollars -- and that's your money."
http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F00E13F93D5E0C748EDDAA0894DF494D81
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