NM Delegation Asks FCC to Protect Rural Broadcasting

The New Mexico congressional delegation (two senators and three House members) are the latest to contact the Federal Communications Commission about protecting rural communications, particularly broadcast translators, in the incentive auctions meant to encourage broadcasters to give up their spectrum for auction to wireless.

Translators help carry over-the-air TV station signals to hard-to-reach geographic areas. In the letter, dated April 26, the legislators said the FCC needs to protect over-the-air signals after the incentive auctions, whether that is a full-power broadcaster or a translator. They point out that some of their constituents can't afford cable or satellite and others don't have access to high-speed broadband. For them, they say, broadcast TV is "all the more" useful for emergency communications.