‘Lessons for the Future’ Following FCC Incentive Auction

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One of the nation’s top voices on the just-completed FCC Spectrum Auction is heading to Washington, D.C. to share some of the “lessons learned” throughout the undertaking.

Preston Padden, principal at Boulder Thinking LLC and the individual for providing a conceptual framework for enabling spectrum now dedicated to UHF TV to be transferred towireless broadband,” will be participating in a Duke University School of Law scheduled for Friday (5/12) at its “Duke in D.C.” offices on Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.


The half-day event, The FCC Spectrum Incentive Auction: Lessons for the Future, takes places from 8:30am-1pm.

Padden’s principal focus will shed light on the fact that three of the four major carriers “lobbied hard for this auction and for this spectrum … but then did not show up.”
Meanwhile, roughly 1,000 TV Stations will be “forced to change channels— an expensive and disruptive process—because Verizon, Sprint and AT&T lobbied furiously that they had to have this 600 Mhz spectrum and then said ‘never mind.'”
Padden says, “At any level of analysis, this is just plain wrong and should not be allowed to happen again.
He will also share with attendees that May 12 is the day that so-called “nomadic licenses” of broadcasters who gave up their spectrum must be transferable.
“The opportunity to channel share is what attracted the broadcaster participation that made the auction possible,” Padden points out.
For a view on the full agenda, click here.