WASHINGTON-A bill that would allow low power TV broadcasters to offer high-speed access to the Internet passed the Senate last week, said Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) chairman of the communications subcommittee and the bill’s sponsor.
Burns’ bill would allow LPTV broadcasters in 10 communities to be given primary status if they offer high-speed Internet access over the LPTV airwaves. Burns hopes these pilot projects will show that this type of wireless technology will close the Digital Divide.
Both the public-safety and mobile-phone industries have expressed concerns about the bill because of its impact on the spectrum being made available with the transition to digital TV. If the LPTV broadcaster became primary on a station that was slated to be used for DTV transmission, this could mean that a broadcaster could not clear from channel 59-69 thus defeating any band-clearing arrangements. Channel 59 must also be cleared to protect it from interference in services being offered on channel 60. The FCC is clearing channels 60-69 as part of the transition.
Congress said in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 that broadcasters do not have to transition to DTV until 2007 and 85 percent of the homes in their territory have digital receivers. Once the transition is completed, 24 megahertz was to be set aside for public-safety operations and 36 megahertz was to be auctioned for commercial operations.
The FCC last week raised $519.9 million when it auctioned six megahertz of the commercial spectrum for guard-band manager licenses to be used as a buffer between public-safety operations and the commercial licenses set to be auctioned March 6.
