The witness table at the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet will look a lot like the big, long, table at the front of the room of a typical FCC Open Meeting. Both feature all five active FCC Commissioners. The topic is “Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission: The National Broadband Plan.” The issue for broadcasters is the safety of their spectrum.
Architects of the National Broadband Plan are trying to find 300 MHz of spectrum within five years and 500 MHz over ten years to put to use carrying wireless broadband, and have suggested that 120 MHz of that can come from the television portion.
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn has suggested that any move into the television space should be approached with extreme caution, since it alone is answerable on matters of public interest, not to mention localism and diversity.
She’ll be in attendance along with Chairman Julius Genachowski, Michael Copps, Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker.
Genachowski’s solo appearance before the Senate Commerce Committee on 3/23/10 was postponed.
The House Communications Subcommittee hearing, under the gavel of Chairman Rick Boucher, is scheduled for 3/25/10 at 10AM.
