T-Mobile: WLNY Spectrum Freed Up

T-Mobile says CBS-owned WLNY-TV New York (Long Island) has completed its early repack of spectrum, which means T-Mobile will be able to access the spectrum it bought in the broadcast incentive auction.

The WLNY spectrum covers parts of Long Island into Brooklyn and Queens.

T-Mobile was the biggest spectrum winner in the auction and has been striking deals with stations to clear off spectrum earlier than the FCC's timetable.

Related: T-Mobile to Help KXAS-TV Move Early

For example, last fall Fox struck a deal with T-Mobile to move WWOR-TV New York to new spectrum 16 months earlier than its FCC phase--the transition is happening in 10 phases over more than three years. 

The early clearances in New York will speed T-Mobile's LTE coverage in the New York City area.

CBS TV Stations president Peter Dunn said the move to new spectrum was "seamless."

T-Mobile also volunteered to pay for affected low-power stations to move to temporary channels.

T-Mobile struck a deal last year with PBS and Americas Public TV Stations (APTS) to help them with rural translators, whose moves are not covered by the relocation fund.

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.