Digital TV Channel Assignments Should Benefit the Public

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Washington -- Next month, the FCC will award up to 70 billion dollars worth of the public's airwaves to the nation's broadcasters. For free. This is, indeed, one of the largest federal giveaways of the century. Broadcasters will use this spectrum to start a second "digital" channel, which will permit them to provide multi-channel programming and subscription services. I'm not happy that Congress has ordered this result, but it's a done deal.

The FCC now has a golden opportunity - and the duty - to get the most out of this arrangement for the American public. It has proposed a plan that would pack all the new digital channels between channels 7-51. This would permit the FCC to recover the surrounding channels and make them available for other uses. Among other things, these newly freed-up channels could provide the following public benefits:

• more competition, more choice and lower prices for new telecommunications and information services;
• auction proceeds that could go to deficit reduction, or as MAP has proposed, to a fund for free political time and public service media and telecommunications;
• opportunities for more, and more diverse, people owning broadcasting, telecommunications and information services; and
• greatly improved public safety services.

The powerful broadcast lobby is unhappy with this plan.

• It is not enough that the public is completely subsidizing their move to digital TV.
• It is not enough that they will have two channels for 15, 25 or more years.
• It is not enough that the FCC and other engineers are confident that the channel 7-51 plan will cause few, if any technical problems.
• It is not enough that translator stations will not be displaced.

The broadcast lobby wants more free spectrum all for itself. It doesn't want to share.

I stand in this room with representatives of organizations that rarely agree with the Media Access Project on telecommunications policy issues. On this issue, however, our consensus is airtight: broadcasters should get no more spectrum than is necessary to provide digital television. That means two things:

• Digital television channels should be placed between channels 7-51; and
• Under no circumstances should broadcasters get the exclusive right to any vacant or unused channels in the 7-51 band.

I say to the FCC: do the right thing - adopt your proposal, and give the American people something now in return for the spectrum giveaway. And to Congress: support the FCC's plan and ignore the broadcasters' exaggerated tales of woe. The channel 7-51 plan achieves your goals of increased competition and efficient use of spectrum.

Gigi B. Sohn is Executive Director of the Media Access Project. MAP is a nonprofit, public interest telecommunications law firm that represents the public's First Amendment rights before the FCC and the courts.

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