Here’s What’s Next for the Spectrum Auction

A Q&A with John Hane, a Washington communications attorney with the firm of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. As Hane sees it, the Federal Communications Commission's big job is to induce enough stations in the most densely populated areas to give up their spectrum for auction with the guarantee of a definite payoff — a payoff established by a preliminary reverse auction.

He also says that broadcasters who choose to hang on to their spectrum are protected to a certain extent by the safeguards that National Association of Broadcasters lobbyists had built into the authorizing language, especially a provision that says the FCC has only one shot at the TV spectrum. It will take years for a motivated FCC to conduct the necessary rulemakings and implement the auctions, he says. But each broadcaster needs to pay attention to what's going on as the auctions and attendant repacking will shake up the entire TV band. "If I can't outrun the bear, then I want to outrun the other guy. I want to get the best new assignment in my market," Hane says.