FCC Provides More Time for Comment on Incentive Auctions

Moves comment date by over a month, replies by three weeks in response to NAB/CTIA request

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/29/2012 3:57:30 PM

The FCC has granted the requests of the National Association of Broadcasters and CTIA: The Wireless Association, for additional time to comment on the commission's incentive auction proposal.

In September, the FCC voted to approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking offering a framework for auctioning broadcast spectrum and re-auctioning it for, presumably, wireless broadband use.

NAB and CTIA had cited the complexity of the issues, technical and policy, in asking that that the comment and reply comment deadlines be extended from Dec. 21 and Feb. 19, respectively, to Jan. 25 and March 26.

They suggested that the move would actually speed the process, not slow it, saying there were ongoing industry discussions.

The FCC agreed to extend the comment deadline to Jan. 25, but the reply comment deadline only to March 12, saying that should be enough time to "prepare comments and reply comments that fully respond to the complex economic, engineering and policy issues raised."

It also moves the comment deadline from four days before Christmas. The FCC pointed out it does not routinely grant extensions, but it often does so to move them away from holidays.

The extension was granted jointly by the Media and Wireless Bureaus and the Office of Engineering and Technology, which teamed on the NPRM.