WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Television broadcasters are reluctant to part with airwaves that regulators want to resell to bandwidth-hungry wireless companies, casting doubt on the $25 billion estimated to be raised through auctions approved by the U.S. Congress on Friday.
The wariness also may maintain the threat of a spectrum crunch that wireless companies have warned will result in dropped calls and slower connection speeds for their customers.
A provision tucked into a payroll tax compromise allows the Federal Communications Commission to auction off some television airwaves and compensate broadcasters from a portion of the proceeds.
About $15 billion of the auction money is marked to fund the year-long extension to payroll tax cuts, meaning that if broadcasters don’t give up the expected number of airwaves, the nation’s deficit figure could swell.
“That’s not to say that there won’t be some, but I would be shocked if there’s some kind of stampede of broadcasters lining up to turn in their TV licenses,” said Dennis Wharton, the National Association of Broadcasters‘ executive vice president of communications.
While broadcasters do have the lure of $1.75 billion in potential auction proceeds, they are worried about the unintended consequences that parting with airwaves could have on future innovation, their TV signals and the 46 million viewers that still rely on over-the-air TV.
News Corp, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc and LIN TV Corp are among the companies that could potentially give up spectrum.
Wharton said broadcasters are less desperate for cash because advertising dollars are starting to
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Article Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-spectrum-hopes-hinge-wary-broadcasters-230246154.html
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