FCC: We're Still on Track for 2014

A spokesman for FCC acting chair Mignon Clyburn told B&C on Friday that the FCC remains
on track for an incentive auction order by the end of 2013 and an auction by
the end of 2014.

That came in response to asuggestion by Sen. Communications Subcommittee chair Mark Pryor that he'd
heard rumors the FCC might have to move the deadline into 2015, and guessed that
would happen.

"The Commission's world-class incentive auction team of
economists, auction experts, and engineers is making steady progress towards
holding the world's first incentive auction in 2014; which will free up
significant spectrum for mobile broadband use," said the spokesman.
"The auction is a top institutional priority and we are on track to help
deliver faster speeds, greater capacity, and more ubiquitous wireless
connectivity to consumers and businesses across the country."

The FCC's incentive auction point person, Gary
Epstein, told a House Communications Subcommittee hearing panel last week that the
staff is working hard to ensure they meet that 2013/2014 timeline for an order
and an auction.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.