Unleashing the Digital Television Band: A Proposal for an Overlay Auction

Americans could be accessing more advanced wireless networks, developing more useful technologies, and enjoying decidedly more productive opportunities in the economy were the TV Band - the Mother Lode of underutilized radio spectrum - allocated to its highest valued use. This paper puts forward a simple proposal to accomplish that. It does not impose any given business model on the market, or dictate how airwaves should be utilized. Rather, it uses modern tools of spectrum management to create incentives for key players to cooperate, remedying conflicts and ending hold-outs. It is a specific plan in terms of its basic components, but it is sufficiently generic as to accommodate policy choices reflecting differing goals. It is a platform whose specifications can be customized. The plan would:
divide the 294 MHz DTV Band into seven national overlay licenses;
allocate each overlay seven contiguous TV channels (42 MHz), reducing borders (as opposed to non-contiguous channel allotments);
allot overlays exclusive, flexible-use rights as defined in the 700 MHz licenses previously sold at auction,18 subject to incumbents' encumbrances;
grandfather DTV broadcast incumbents indefinitely;
DTV stations are required to distribute video content free-to-viewer, but the mandate is platform-neutral;
overlay licenses are sold at auction;
limit two per customer.