Senate to Look at Spectrum Value

The Senate Communications Subcommittee will hold its first hearing of the new Congress March 2, and the subject is spectrum, specifically its value to the U.S. economy.

That will include looking at the demand for licensed and unlicensed spectrum, as well as the FCC's spectrum auctions—the broadcast incentive auction is wrapping up at the end of March. It's value to the treasury is at least $7 billion.

The witness list has been set. It comprises Scott Bergmann, VP of regulatory affairs at CTIA–the Wireless Association; Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics; Dave Heiner, VP and deputy general counsel at Microsoft; Pat LaPlatney, president of Raycom Media; and Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Association.

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.