Could 5G carriers ink a spectrum deal with TV broadcasters?

A television conference in Washington (DC) aired a proposed remake of one of the bigger spectrum-policy hits of the past decade, although it's not clear what kind of reception "Incentive Auction 2.0" might get. Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr endorsed the idea of a second "incentive auction" during his talk onstage with Madeleine Noland, president of the Advanced Television Systems Committee. Commissioner Carr suggested that after local stations shut down ATSC 1.0 digital broadcasts in favor of ATSC 3.0 (aka NextGen TV), they might be open to releasing some of their unused spectrum to wireless network operators. The former FCC advisor who helped to launch the original incentive auction in 2017 thinks there's potential in returning to that well. "It's a smart idea and Brendan [Carr] is wise to raise it," said Blair Levin, a policy advisor to New Street Research.