FCC chairman Tom Wheeler was not kidding when he signaled there had been robustinterest in the spectrum auction among TV stations.
The FCC unveiled its clearing target last week, based on how much spectrum broadcasters had committed to giving up. The target is 126 MHz, the top amount the agency had projected to be able to amass—at least after dropping the 144 MHz top estimate last fall due to coordination issues with Canada.
The other big takeaway last week was that the much-talked-about and planned-for spectrum auction will begin May 31.
“The initial clearing target announced is the highest possible clearing target and associated band plan for which the provisional assignment satisfies the optimization objectives and the near-nationwide standard for impairments,” the FCC said.
If the FCC does not collect enough money in the forward auction to pay broadcasters at this initial clearing target, then it will have to lower its target and pay fewer stations
