https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Agents
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • Channel Partners Events
 Channel Futures

Regulation & Compliance


Incentive Auction Is Unparalleled Business Opportunity for Broadcasters

  • Written by Josh
  • October 1, 2014
In large markets including Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia, FCC staff estimated individual broadcasters could fetch hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Federal Communications Commission has released estimates of proceeds television broadcasters could fetch in markets across the nation by relinquishing spectrum under a groundbreaking incentive auction that is aimed to free up capacity to meet America’s insatiable demand for wireless services.

An information package for broadcasters, released Wednesday by the FCC, is a crucial step in the agency’s attempt to repurpose 600 MHz of spectrum in an auction that is estimated to generate as much as $45 billion.

In large markets including Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia, FCC staff estimated individual broadcasters could fetch hundreds of millions of dollars. Even in smaller markets that are adjacent to larger cities, such as in Providence, Rhode Island, FCC estimates broadcasters could reap tens of millions of dollars.

Broadcasters that relinquish spectrum don’t have to exit the business because they can share channels or move to a very high frequency range, according to the FCC.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler characterized the auction as an “unparalleled business opportunity for broadcasters” in a letter to them that was released Wednesday.

FCC officials told reporters the estimates of compensation are tied to the potential for a station’s interference – not the station’s actual value – taking into consideration the number of people a broadcast station covers and the number of overlapping signals.  

Broadcasters’ participation in the auction is voluntary, but FCC officials said that their participation is crucial to its success. The other piece of the equation is the willingness of wireless providers to participate. AT&T said in May that it planned to bid at least $9 billion in next year’s incentive auction provided there is sufficient spectrum to meet its needs.

In previous spectrum auctions, wireless providers have invested more than $53 billion, according to Scott Bergmann, vice president of regulatory affairs with CTIA-The Wireless Association.

The groundbreaking auction will mark one of the first ones since roughly $19.5 billion was raised in an auction of 700 MHz spectrum. That was in 2008 when the iPhone was a baby and before tablet computers flooded the American market.

The spectrum is important to wireless carriers because it can travel longer distances and better penetrate buildings and other obstacles than higher-band spectrum, resulting in lower costs to deploy it, according to Sprint, T-Mobile USA and others in an FCC filing.

“The U.S. wireless industry needs this spectrum, and a lot more in the near future, to meet the demands by consumers for mobile broadband access anytime, anywhere,” Bergmann said in a statement.

The information package, which was prepared by an investment banking firm and includes a letter from the IRS on the tax implications of the auction for broadcasters, is part of the FCC’s long-term strategy to entice broadcasters to return spectrum rights. FCC officials plan to go on the road for the remainder of the year and meet with broadcasters across the nation to discuss the auction.

The auction will be comprised of two parts: a “reverse auction” in which broadcasters relinquish their spectrum rights in exchange for compensation; and a “forward auction” in which mobile operators bid for licenses. Broadcasters will be provided with opening bid prices before they have to decide whether to participate in the auction, and they are only committed to accept the opening price if they participate, according to the FCC. If the price falls, broadcaster can walk away without any penalty, FCC officials said.

FCC’s compensation estimates assumed the sale of 100 MHz of spectrum in the forward auction at an average price of $1.50 per MHz-pop.

Tags: Agents Mobility & Wireless Regulation & Compliance

Most Recent


  • Making Waves
    7 Channel People Making Waves This Week at AWS, BlackBerry, More
    Two analysts made it this week, plus two security executives and an MSP owner.
  • MSP
    N-able Launches N-hanced Services to Help Partners Focus on Most Impactful Features
    The new services implement and handle the most impactful features of N-able products, the company said.
  • Eight, 8
    8 Takeaways You Need to Know from AWS’ Public Sector Summit
    Get the scoop from Jeffrey Kratz, who now leads the vendor’s public sector partner program.
  • Managed Security Services
    Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report: Employee Cybersecurity Training Still Lagging as Stolen Credentials Rise
    The DBIR team examined more than 914,000 incidents and nearly 235,000 data breaches.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • hybrid cloud
    NetApp Focuses on Unified Hybrid Cloud Experience with Latest Updates
  • Paying ransomware
    Feds Seize Most of Ransom Paid in Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attack
  • IPO
    6 Things to Know About the Upcoming SentinelOne IPO
  • White House
    White House Urges Companies to Take Ransomware Attacks More Seriously

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Europe

June 14, 2022 - June 15, 2022

MSP Summit

September 13, 2022 - September 16, 2022

Galleries

View all

Broadcom-VMware Fallout: Concerned Partners, Customers Brace for Change

May 27, 2022

7 Channel People Making Waves This Week at AWS, BlackBerry, More

May 27, 2022

‘An Era Has Ended’: Inside the $61 Billion Broadcom-VMware Deal Rocking the Software Industry

May 26, 2022

Industry Perspectives

View all

Increased Cybersecurity Vulnerability = Increased MSP Opportunities

May 25, 2022

Leverage Your MSP’s People Power

May 24, 2022

How SD-WAN Helps Secure the Expanding Network Perimeter

May 19, 2022

Webinars

View all

Growing Partner Revenue and Customer Satisfaction with Power Management Services

June 23, 2022

The Digital Worker: How to Empower Customers and with a Flexible, Scalable VDI Solution to Enable Remote Work

June 30, 2022

Simplifying SaaS Security for MSPs

April 27, 2022

White Papers

View all

Work Goes Remote – (and Other Top ITOps Trends)

May 25, 2022

The New Bottom Line: How MSPs Can Meet the Healthcare Crisis While Evolving Their Businesses

April 19, 2022

How to build a Security Operations Center (on a budget)

April 4, 2022

Channel Futures TV

View all

AT&T, Microsoft, Cisco, ThreatLocker on Unlocking Partner Potential

Agents Share ‘Secrets,’ Industry Opportunity

May 11, 2022

Vonage Addresses Potential Partner Opportunity via Acquisition by Ericsson

May 5, 2022

Lumen Technologies ‘Built for Growth and Scale’

May 4, 2022

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@MarcoTechnology, @OmdiaHQ, @cdillc, @whitehatvt and other folks weighed in on the latest blockbuster acquisition… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 27, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@MicrosoftStore improvements announced at #build2022 aim to make it easier for devs to monetize their apps.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 27, 2022
ChannelFutures

Many companies profess to be customer-first. @Denysech explains how to actually become that. dlvr.it/SR9Wdl https://t.co/AWu6plCrk5

May 27, 2022
ChannelFutures

Through 2024, U.S. B2B technology reseller channel revenue will be 18% above pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 27, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@Lacework lays off 20% of workforce. #cloudsecurity dlvr.it/SR7Jsl https://t.co/Mg3OVXHAhe

May 26, 2022
ChannelFutures

#Know22: @ServiceNow focused on transforming #partnerexperience to foster more growth. dlvr.it/SR7Hbj https://t.co/J1BhmT3OzS

May 26, 2022
ChannelFutures

Departing @msPartner exec @rodneyc55 to become @johnsoncontrols chief commercial officer. dlvr.it/SR7HZN https://t.co/v0eVGBMKbQ

May 26, 2022
ChannelFutures

Everyone's talking about the massive Broadcom-VMware deal. @AnuragTechaisle, @Dataprise, @Carousel_Ind, @imlazar an… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 26, 2022

MSSP Insider

Business advice for MSSPs and news from the broader security channel.

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Galleries

Educational slide shows and images from live events.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Events
  • Telecoms.com
  • MSP 501
  • Black Hat
  • IoT World Today
  • Omdia

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X