Telecom Industry Presses FCC to Dismiss NAB Repack Petition

While NAB was holding its largest convention of the year in Las Vegas, telecom associations and companies were busy filing their opposition to changes broadcasters would like the FCC to make to its repack plan. NAB believes broadcasters will need about twice the amount of the $1.75B Congress has allocated to reimburse stations to relocate to different channels as the TV spectrum is repacked into a smaller portion of the band; the broadcast trade lobby has also consistently said 39 months is not enough time for everyone to move, given the limited number of tower crews that can handle tall TV towers and new, heavy antennas.

“The current 39-month deadline should not be the driver of the entire process,” NAB representatives recently emphasized to the Commission. NAB earlier petitioned the FCC to modify its repack plan, Inside Towers reported, saying if the agency doesn’t make the proposed changes, the repack will take longer, cost more and cause more disruption than it has to. Continue Reading