While Chairman Genachowski has not announced his plans to
step down, he is widely expected to vacate the top FCC job in President Obama's
second term.
According to bna.com, at the outset of the Senate Commerce,
Science, and Transportation Committee hearing, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) keyed
in on Genachowski's status, questioning whether the FCC could realistically
meet its self-imposed deadlines for conducting the first-ever “incentive
auctions” of spectrum if Genachowski resigns.
The FCC is working to finalize the rules for the auction in
2013 with hopes of holding the auction in 2014. Such a timeline may prove
difficult to meet amid a change in leadership at the commission, Thune said.
Genachowski dodged the question, saying only that incentive
auctions remain the agency's highest priority.
Commissioner Robert McDowell, the senior Republican member
of the agency, expressed optimism that the FCC will meet its self-imposed
deadlines, but urged caution.
The agency is trying to reclaim airwaves now used for
broadcast television and auction them off to carriers led by Verizon Wireless
and AT&T Inc., with a portion of the proceeds paid to the broadcasters.
Even at this early stage in the process, agency officials anticipate a return
of between 60 and 80 megahertz from broadcasters, roughly half of the amount
contemplated when the FCC released the National Broadband Plan in 2010.
The broadcast TV spectrum is seen as crucial to wireless
carriers to help meet the ever-increasing consumer demand for smartphones and
tablet computers, which require more radio spectrum to carry their data
transmissions--significantly more than what is needed to carry cellular
telephone calls.
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