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| Tom Wheeler |
According to Variety, Wheeler’s hard-sell remarks at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., come as broadcasters express reservations about participating in the incentive auction — at least until they have more information on how it will work. The incentive auction, to be held in mid-2015, is intended to free up spectrum that will then be auctioned off for wireless use. But the changes are expected to remake the channel lineup in many markets, as stations that participate would go out of business or share their spectrum with other license holders.
“I cannot remember a point in history when it has been simpler, safer or more profitable for an incumbent service provider to take advantage of new technology,” Wheeler said, according to his prepared remarks. “Typically, new technology plows under the old business models; in this case, however, the FCC is overseeing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for profitable repurposing of an important business activity.”
Wheeler said that stations that participate stand to “walk off with a big check from selling their old spectrum,” as they will share in the government proceeds of the auction.
Wheeler, making his first visit to Silicon Valley since he was confirmed as chairman, once again expressed his support for the FCC’s Net neutrality rules, passed in 2010 but facing the threat that they will be struck down by D.C. circuit court judges.
The issue surfaced earlier this week when AT&T announced a new mobile offering in which subscribing companies pay for the bandwidth when a subscriber accesses their app or website. Such a “sponsored” bandwidth offering has already raised the hackles of digital rights orgs, which contend that it may violate Net neutrality principles that otherwise apply to wired Internet connections.
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