Big Media doesn’t talk about the FCC Spectrum Auction
What is the spectrum auction, and why doesn’t Big Media talk about it? Because the Big Media Cabal stands to gain a whole bunch of moneymaking spectrum (and keep it out of the hands of potential competition) if they don’t let the public know what’s at stake.
Because the FCC has mandated the switch to HDTV, there is a lot of TV spectrum that will no longer be in use by the broadcasting companies (which are part of the Big Media Groups) for TV so the FCC will have an auction to sell the use of it. Yes, I said the use of it. The Spectrum is owned by you and me and everyone else who is a citizen of the US. The deal is that in exchange for their use of it for their own good, they’re also supposed to provide for the public welfare via local news, emergency broadcasting, and Public Access for government, emergency management, educational facilities and other Public entities. Problem is that the Big Media companies have a different idea of what that means than the people to whom they’re broadcasting, and local news, sports, and Public Access has suffered severely, to the point where there’s a media crisis. Most of the blame for this goes to the FCC, which has oversight and has not been enforcing any of it, to the point where there have been documented cases of the need for emergency evacuation that could not be broadcast because of the abrogation of responsibilities by absentee owner broadcasters and radio stations run by remote control- literally. And the FCC is the one running the Spectrum Auction. Should we be worried? You betcha.
Now, all that spectrum is going to be auctioned, and the Big Media companies don’t want We The People to know about it. Why? Because with every other spectrum auction they’ve managed to Rig The Game. I won’t go into all the details, you’d be better off getting them from Harold Feld, who understands the arcane morass of rulings that rule FCC Spectrum Auctions, but to make a long story short, the auctions aren’t anonymous, and since they aren’t, the bidders can rig the bidding, and keep the new guys out.
What can all this spectrum be used for? First of all, it’s PERFECT spectrum to use to deploy Community Wifi, and since the new wifi standard allows much higher speed, it will be in direct competition with . . . yup, you guessed it. With Big Media. It’s also important that some of this bandwidth be used for the Public Good by making it available to Emergency Management and Public Access.
So what’s up with the FCC? Isn’t Chairman Martin always saying he wants to promote “Choice and Competition”??? (he learned that phrase from his buddies at AT&T and Verizon, if it sounds familiar) which, in this day and age, means BROADBAND (Internet) competition! Well, Chairman Martin does pay lip service to “Choice and Competition” all the time, yet his actions speak much louder than his words. And so far he’s given away the farm to the Media, Telecomm and big Cable interests. He ditched the principal of Net Neutrality, which made it possible for the internet to wildly succeed. He reclassified DSL and wireless as “information services” so that common carrier status wouldn’t come into play (which is another way of saying Net Neutrality.) Somehow a lot of studies that were inimical to his buddies over at Big Media, studies that point out that Media Consolidation is Bad for You and Me, went missing. When releasing so-called statistics about the state of broadband deployment in the US, the FCC used a wacko formula that counted areas by Zip Code and declared an area covered by broadband if only ONE HOUSEHOLD in that Zip Code had access to broadband. Oh, and they defined broadband in numbers that are barely faster than dialup, and that literally leave the US in the dust re broadband deployment and speed, behind countries such as Korea, Japan, Sweden and even Iceland, Canada, and Singapore! How embarassing, that the country who invented the ‘net is so far behind in building it!
We The People do have a couple friends over at the FCC– Copps and Adelstein (the only two Dem Commissioners) have fought the good fight, and gotten a definition for net neutrality, as well as a concession to it in the AT&T/Bell South merger. And in a couple instances McDowell has shown himself to be, if not friendly, at least not a pushover. McDowell recused himself from the vote on that merger since he had a conflict of interest, and he stayed recused despite incredible pressure from Martin for him to vote anyway.
So, here we are, wondering what’s going to happen re this Spectrum Auction. The FCC has to write the rules prior to the start of the bidding. What can you do to help ensure the rules are fair? Read Harold’s analysis of the FCC Spectrum Auction and submit a comment to the FCC (docket 06-150) and tell the FCC to make the Spectrum auction anonymous. And if the FCC REALLY wants to promote “Choice and Competition”, they’ll keep the usual suspects from bidding, and open it up to the new guys (satellite companies, ISPs, broadband players, and some new venture capital that wants to wifi it.)
Technorati Tags: Broadband Spectrum Auction, FCC, Choice and Competition, Community Wifi, Emergency Management, Public Access, Local News
