Open Spectrum

We've all heard the dire statistics. The U.S. has fallen to 16th in the world in broadband penetration. The dominant cable and DSL duopoly is failing to bring affordable broadband connectivity

On July 12, 2005, Michael Calabrese testified before the full Senate Commerce Committee about issues regarding the nation's transition from analog to digital television (DTV) broadcasting. Below is a summary of his testimony. To access the full transcript, refer to the PDF file linked below.

For the complete document, please see the attached PDF version below.

In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, local TV broadcasters won free use of spectrum worth tens of billions of dollars. In the decade since, broadcasters have sought a seemingly endless array of additional subsidies -- including more spectrum, tax breaks, the broadcast flag, DTV tuner mandate, and DTV multicasting must-carry rights -- to speed their DTV transition. A new book by New America Foundation Senior Research Fellow J.H. Snider explains how these lobbying feats were accomplished.

In an age of telecommunications convergence and Internet TV, DTV must-carry is a historical relic that nevertheless is likely to be preserved and expanded. Given that political reality, this paper makes two recommendations: 1) in the long-term, must-carry should be sunset and transformed into a blanket network neutrality rule for the Internet TV era, and 2) in the short-term, broadcasters should be held to quantifiable and enforceable public interest standards in exchange for any expansion of must-carry.

For the complete document, please see the attached PDF version below.

INTRODUCTION

These reply comments are being filed by a coalition of the New America Foundation and other entities (NAF et al.) listed on the cover page. These entities include nonprofits, corporations, and professors of engineering, and they have joined in urging the Commission to complete positive action in its proposals in this proceeding. These entities have explicitly reserved the right to file reply comments individually. These coalition comments only concern issues on which the above entities were able to reach consensus.

SUMMARY

For more than two years, in three different proceedings and a host of Commission sponsored workshops, the Commission has received reams of evidence on the public interest value of permitting direct access to the public to broadcast band spectrum via the Part 15 rules. While incumbents have railed against the Commission, promising dire consequences for the future of free over-the-air television and for the digital transition, these claims lack merit. As far back as 1989, the Commission recognized that it could permit low power transmitters to operate in the broadcast bands.