Waxman's draft of supercommittee recommendations includes spectrum auctions

In a draft letter to the congressional supercommittee on deficit reduction, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Commerce Committee, recommends auctioning spectrum that is currently used by television broadcasters and the federal government to raise revenue.

The letter is not a final recommendation and has not been sent to the supercommittee yet. Rep Waxman recommends giving the Federal Communications Commission the authority to incentivize television broadcasters to give up their spectrum, or airwaves. The government would then auction off the spectrum to the highest bidder, likely a wireless broadband company. Even after splitting some of the proceeds with to the broadcasters, the spectrum auctions are expected to raise billions of dollars to help the government pay down its deficit. Broadcasters argue any auction plan should include strong protections to ensure that no television station is forced off the air against its will. Rep Waxman also recommends that the supercommittee require the president to "identify any federal spectrum that can be utilized more efficiently and reallocated for auction or shared use." Under Waxman's plan, the government would allocate the D Block of spectrum for the creation of a nationwide public safety broadband network. He would use proceeds from the spectrum auctions to pay for the network. Rep Waxman estimated that his spectrum proposals would generate net savings of $15 billion for the federal government.