WASHINGTON: Dave Donovan will carry the water for broadcasters in a panel discussion tomorrow at the National Press Club. The head of the Association for Maximum service television will be among a group of players weighing in on whether broadcasters should hand more spectrum over to wireless providers for broadband. “Let’s Make a Deal: Broadcasters, Mobile Broadband, and a Market in Spectrum,” is being sponsored by the Progress & Freedom Foundation; it’s scheduled for 9 a.m. on the 13th floor.
“An official at the Federal Communications Commission has suggested that it might be possible to craft a grand bargain whereby television broadcasters get cash for some--or all--of their current spectrum if they return it to the FCC for reallocation and auction,” the PFF event notification reads. “Such a deal could, eventually, open up significant amounts of prime spectrum for next-generation mobile broadband and data services.”
The FCC official cited is Blair Levin, who’s now heading up the commission’s broadband initiative. Levin will be on the panel along with Coleman Bazelon, principal of The Brattle Group, a D.C. consultancy with a wide range of expertise, including spectrum valuation. Other panelists include Paul Gallant of Concept Capital, John Hane of Pillsbury, Winthrop Shaw Pittman, Kostas Liopiros of The Sun Fire Group and Andrew Schwartzman of the Media Access Project.
