Reimbursement Fund Will Cover Pre-Auction Expenses, FCC Rules
LAS VEGAS -- The FCC issued a declaratory ruling affirming that expenses incurred by broadcasters during and before the incentive auction related to the repacking will be eligible for reimbursement from the $1.75 billion relocation reimbursement fund. The public notice announcing the ruling was posted online during an NAB Show panel of broadcast engineers about the industry's readiness for the repacking. Though panelists said the announcement would help, they also listed many other concerns about the repacking that remain for broadcasters.
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The declaratory ruling "eliminated any doubt" the FCC will reimburse broadcasters for expenses that are incurred before being assigned to a new channel, said former Expanding Opportunity for Broadcasters Coalition executive director Preston Padden. "The Spectrum Act's reimbursement mandate encompasses costs reasonably incurred prior to the close of the auction that are otherwise eligible for reimbursement," the PN said. "By allowing broadcasters to get a jump start on the relocation process, this ruling will promote a rapid, non-disruptive transition" after the auction, the FCC said. "We commend the FCC for acting in this manner," an NAB spokesman told us.
Local regulations and a lack of industry infrastructure and qualified workers will make it tough for the repacking to happen fast, said engineers from antenna makers Dielectric, Electronics Research Inc. (ERI) and GatesAir. Hatfield and Dawson Senior Electrical Engineer Stephen Lockwood said the short window for broadcasters to repack makes it harder for companies to increase their resources to cope with the expected demand. "How can I fill a barn full of engineers just to work for three months?" Lockwood said. That's not how his company operates, he said. ERI will begin its ramping up of infrastructure and employees for the repacking next week, said ERI TV Engineering Manager Manuel Sone. By the end of the year, the company will be able to produce eight to 16 antennas a month, he said. Dielectric Vice President Keith Pelletier also said his company will be ramping up for the repacking.
Broadcaster efforts to take advantage of the FCC reimbursement policy are somewhat limited by the disclosure rules for the reverse auction, the engineers said. Though one broadcaster in the audience suggested broadcasters band together to try to secure crews and equipment for the repacking, FCC anti-collusion rules bar that from happening since participants would have to disclose that they don't plan to sell their spectrum, the panelists said. Instead, broadcasters on their own should inventory their equipment and towers, determine their flexibility and begin working to set aside funding for when the repacking is happening, they said.