The incentive auctions continue to breed unusual alliances.
First there was the National Association of Broadcasters and wireless companies
teaming on a band plan, and now NAB and the Consumer Electronics Association,
which have battled over the relative value of spectrum in the hands of
broadcasters and those wireless companies, have joined to ask the FCC to create
a working group on international coordination.
The U.S. will have to coordinate the repacking of TV
stations after the auction with Canada and Mexico to avoid border interference
issues. Broadcasters have been pushing the commission to resolve those issues
before the auctions.
"We are pleased that the Commission has recently
reached out to Canada to begin this [coordination] process," they
wrote in a letter to acting FCC chair Mignon Clyburn. "We believe that
the Commission can go one step further, however, and immediately create a joint
working group consisting of public and private officials to expedite this
critical process."
They pointed out that commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel last
week suggested that "[w]e can bring in minds from the federal side, state
side, industry, and public to create a forum to identify issues [associated
with international coordination] -- and help solve them."
They urged the chairwoman to form the commission
and hold the first meeting this summer. Clyburn was not available for comment
at presstime.
