Technologie i telekomunikacja · 12/12/1997

Competitive Bidding for Commercial Broadcast and Instructional Television Fixed Service Licenses; Comparative Broadcast Hearings

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeks comment on proposed competitive bidding procedures that will apply to mutually exclusive applications for licenses to provide commercial AM radio, FM radio, analog television, low power television, and FM or TV translator service. The proposed auction procedures implement the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which expanded the FCC's auction authority to require that it use auctions to award virtually all licenses. The FCC also proposes to use auctions to resolve certain pending commercial broadcast applications filed before July 1, 1997, which under the statute may be resolved by either auction or comparative hearings. Auctions allow the FCC to award licenses more efficiently than comparative hearings, and using auctions to decide the pre-July 1, 1997 applications for new commercial radio or television broadcast stations allows the FCC to end the stay in effect since 1994 on comparative broadcast initial licensing cases. But the FCC seeks comment on whether there are special equitable considerations that warrant using comparative hearings to decide some of the pre-July 1 applications. Comment is also sought on whether the FCC must or sh