NAB: Current FCC Band Plan Needs Fixing

The National Association of Broadcasters says there are parts of the Federal Communications Commission's proposed band plan that are unworkable from an engineering perspective, but it has an alternative as it works to ensure that broadcasters who don't sell out spectrum aren't, in turn, sold out by an unworkable auction framework hurriedly erected to meet an artificial timetable.

NAB held true to its word, signaling in comments on the FCC's incentive auctions that its concern was for TV stations that remain in business. According to top NAB execs, its comments do not even address the auction portion (or channel-sharing by those who give up spectrum), but rather focus on the key issues of international coordination, station repacking and the band plan, or as the new wireless BFF, NAB, puts it, "the neighborhood" they will share with their "wireless friends." The NAB also repeated association concerns that the FCC’s plan to hold its incentive spectrum auction next year may be overly ambitious — and they vowed to protect the rights of the vast majority of the nation’s more than 1,700 TV stations that choose to remain in broadcasting after the auctions are completed.