CEA's Shapiro Lashes Out at Broadcasters

The battle over America's spectrum resources ratcheted up a notch when Consumer Electronics Association President and CEO Gary Shapiro accused television broadcasters of "squatting now on our broadband future."

Delivering a keynote speech, Shapiro suggested that TV stations should relinquish more of their digital airwaves to meet growing demand for wireless connectivity and head off a possible shortage of megahertz for broadband. Broadcasters have agreed to voluntary give-backs of their frequencies, an approach the FCC endorsed after initially considering forced reallocation of spectrum, but Shapiro implied that those commitments as lacking. Proponents of shifting TV spectrum to wireless carriers argue that broadcasting is an antiquated and inefficient technology and that stations often do not use all of their frequencies. "Perhaps while he was writing his book, Gary missed the fact that broadcasters just gave back over a quarter of our airwaves after the DTV transition," responded National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton, taking a swipe at Shapiro's new book about innovation, The Comeback.