FCC Chairman Wheeler: JSA Move Was to Counter K Street Cottage Industry

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler signaled the FCC does not plan to score stations giving up spectrum for auction on their "enterprise" value and said he expects the FCC will have border spectrum coordination "understandings" with Canada and Mexico -- if not signatures on the bottom line -- before the incentive auction.

While network neutrality was the major topic at the House Communications Subcommittee hearing, the legislators minored in peppering the chairman with questions about the incentive auction and recent FCC moves on joint sales agreements, sharing agreement guidance and the overdue quadrennial review(s).

Chairman Wheeler's seemingly neutral position on auction participation came in response to pointed questions from Rep Greg Walden (R-OR), chair of the Subcommittee and himself a former broadcaster. Chairman Wheeler has repeatedly said the goal is not to prevent sharing in the public interest, but what he sees as efforts to circumvent the ownership rules. He said the reality with JSA's was that it was becoming a K Street cottage industry of lawyers finding creative ways to get around the FCC's rules and "pervert" the basic concept of ownership.