FCC Releases Details on Broadcaster Relocation Fund Workshop

WASHINGTON: The Federal Communications Commission recently announced details for its June 25, 2012 repacking cost workshop. The focus of the workshop will be the design of the commission’s program to reimburse the costs that some broadcasters are likely to incur as a result of channel reassignments in connection with the repacking authorized by the 2012 Spectrum Act.

The Act established a $1.75 billion TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund from which the commission is to reimburse those costs when the broadcast spectrum is repacked following the FCC’s first incentive auction. Panelists will discuss the categories of costs that they believe the FCC should consider when designing the program. They will also discuss possible models and lessons learned from similar programs that paid the relocation expenses of spectrum incumbents that were assigned new frequencies.

The workshop will be held in the Commission Meeting Room at the FCC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is free and open to the public, with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis. The session will be broadcast live over the Internet at http://www.fcc.gov/live. Questions from the Internet audience can be submitted via email to incentiveauctions@fcc.gov and via Twitter using the hashtag, #fcclive.

Panelists will include:

Jay Adrick, vice president of Broadcast Technology for Harris
Brett Haan, principal with Deloitte Consulting, LLP
Jane Mago, executive vice president and general counsel for NAB
Patricia Tikkala, vice president of spectrum for Sprint Nextel

The workshop will begin at 2 p.m. ET.