The FCC Pulls the Plug on Broadcasters

[Commentary] The biggest problem facing the communications industry is a shortage of the invisible infrastructure known as spectrum. Broadband carriers need the licensed spectrum owned by broadcasters to meet skyrocketing demand for smartphone capabilities and other services. The Federal Communications Commission has an idea: Host a voluntary auction so broadcasters can sell spectrum to be repurposed for broadband. It's expected to take place in 2015. But what if no one comes? That's the multibillion-dollar question, as the success of the auction depends on a substantial number of television stations agreeing to sell their spectrum. Last March a group of broadcasters filed comments with the FCC expressing concern that the agency might not pay the stations their share of the auction revenue, or might impose restrictions on who can purchase the spectrum and for what price. The stations may have reason to wonder. The FCC should study the impact of joint marketing agreements on the marketplace. Issuing a request for broader comment on similar arrangements in the cable, online and mobile video market segments would avoid the appearance of picking winners and losers. It would also begin narrowing the trust deficit between broadcasters and the FCC -- putting the incentive auction back on a track to success.

[Campbell is executive director of the Center for Boundless Innovation in Technology]