WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has announced the agenda for a workshop on a “feasibility check” model for repacking TV stations after the 2015 spectrum incentive auction. The commission prefers the use of a feasibility check rather than optimization to save time during the reverse auction, when broadcasters name their price going in. The proposal was laid out in a Jan. 9 Public Notice.
“Optimization analysis is time-consuming; conducting it during the course of bidding in the reverse auction would restrict the commission’s auction design options,” it states.
The workshop, scheduled for Feb. 21 from 10 a.m. to noon EST at FCC headquarters will focus on “methods of solving a complex engineering problem: How to quickly assess the feasibility of assigning channels to a set of television stations in a manner that does not violate certain technical constraints. The ability to perform feasibility checks rapidly during each round of bidding will be necessary if the commission ultimately decides to use a descending clock for the reverse auction component of the incentive auction,” according to the agenda.
Presenters will include Brett Tarnutzer, assistant chief of the FCC’s Wireless Bureau; and Dr. Kevin Layton-Brown, associate professor of computer science at the University of British Columbia.
The workshop is open to the public and will be webcast at the FCC’s streaming site.
See…
Jan. 10, 2014, “FCC Favors Feasibility Repacking Model”
The feds favor “feasibility” over “optimization” in determining where displaced TV will go after the 2015 spectrum incentive auction. The commission is arguing for using a feasibility check rather than optimization to save time during the reverse auction, when broadcasters essentially name their price going in.
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