Channel 52-69 stations may have to 'rent' their channels

摘要

TV broadcasters still operating analog facilities on channels 52-69 after 2006 may become subject to heavy spectrum fees. By now all broadcasters are familiar with the notion of spectrum auctions and the sizeable dollars that such auctions are able to generate for the federal government through the sale of spectrum. But the proposed federal budget for FY2003 provides for $500 million in spectrum leasing fees projected to be collected starting in 2007. There is no real mystery about why the government might want to become a rent-charging landlord. For years the government has assumed, rightly or wrongly, that it would be able to auction off channels 52-69 once the conversion to DTV and the resulting clearing out of that portion of the current TV band were completed. The projected completion date for that process is 2006. Meanwhile, the auction of spectrum, including television channels 52-69, is predicted to raise more than $25 billion for taxpayers during the next five years.