FCC Begins Proposed Reallocation of Television Broadcast Spectrum

Yesterday, the FCC released two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) and one Notice of Inquiry designed to further the goals set out in the National Broadband Plan of securing additional spectrum for use by wireless broadband services, and fostering the development of new devices and technologies operating in flexible ways designed to maximize use of the recovered spectrum. In its NPRM on Innovation in the Broadcast Television Bands, the FCC proposes to open television broadcast spectrum to sharing on a co-equal basis with fixed and mobile wireless services, to allow two or more television broadcast stations to voluntarily share a single 6 MHz channel, and to investigate ways to improve reception of VHF television signals so that television broadcasters can be better accommodated in the VHF bands, freeing more UHF spectrum for use by wireless broadband.

Reallocation of Television Broadcast Spectrum
In the NPRM, the FCC states that it will make “a significant portion” of the television spectrum available for new flexible uses, including wireless broadband. To that end, it proposes to add a co-primary allocation of “FIXED MOBILE” on each channel in the Table of Frequency Allocations that is currently used by television broadcasters (Channels 2 to 51, except for Channel 37, which is used for radio astronomy). Adding this allocation will allow the FCC flexibility to choose at a later date which specific frequencies will be assigned to particular services, but clearly none of the channels currently used for television broadcasting is free from potential reallocation. The FCC notes that these allocations would also expand television stations’ channel sharing with Public Land Mobile and Commercial Mobile Radio systems that currently exists in 13 large television markets. The FCC states that making the new flexible uses co-primary with broadcasting comports with its “strong intention” to create an orderly transition, minimize the impact on broadcasters and viewers, and protect broadcasters from interference from new broadband services for as long as broadcasters are operating on those channels.

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