FCC faces monumental test

Officials at the Federal Communications Commission are facing a historic challenge. The agency is being asked to do something that has never before been tried: a two-step auction of American airwaves that is intended to shift resources from broadcasters to wireless companies.

If all goes according to plan, the sale could be a cash cow that earns billions of dollars for the federal treasury while helping wireless carriers meet a growing demand for data from smartphones and other devices. Success, however, is far from guaranteed. In order for the sale to get off the ground, the FCC has to convince companies in both industries that it is in their best interest to participate. “The problem is that you have to make opposing pitches to the broadcasters and the wireless carriers,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president at the advocacy group Public Knowledge. “So it’s kind of a difficult balancing act.” “The question is, now that it’s here, is the FCC going to be able to walk that line of convincing the broadcasters that it’s going to be a huge payout but not so huge that they scare off the wireless carriers,” Feld said. The FCC also has to make that the potential buyers and sellers are comfortable with the never-before-used methodology behind the auction. In the first phase, the FCC will purchase spectrum from the broadcasters. Then, it will be packaged for sale to the wireless carriers.