The LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition has a way for LPTV licenses to exit the business honorably, and with a profit. The government would get valuable television spectrum, and investors would get a tax credit. All it would need is congressional approval.
It could save a lot of time, if approved.
The Coalition’s Mike Gravino says that as things stand now, the LPTV community may have little choice but to defend itself from being steamrolled by the process, and that will likely involve the court system.
However, if LPTV owners are given a voluntary way out, legal action could be avoided, and the government will wind up with a stockpile of beachfront spectrum.
The tax credit would max out at $3 per person covered. If there are one million people, the credit would be $3M.
An investor who wants the credit would negotiate a deal for the LPTV station, or translator, and then relinquish the license to the FCC in order to activate the credit.
The FCC can then set the spectrum aside for unlicensed devices, for auction, or bank it for future use.
Gravino stated, “The 8,000 LPTV and TV translator licenses and permits are a key source of vital national spectrum. They should be managed for the highest and best uses possible, in an integrated eco-system of licensed and unlicensed uses and users. Unleashing the inherent value of LPTV spectrum for unlicensed use benefits all parties, and would serve the public interest far better than the current model which was developed more than 30 years ago, and has never been allowed to qualify for must-carry MVPD status, additional Class-A qualifying windows, or be able to deploy innovative new flexible use transmission systems. It is time for those LPTV and TV translator licensees who want to leave the TV broadcasting business in a profitable way, free of government restrictions, and to reinvest into the future uses of low-band spectrum. This proposal may be the only way to accommodate all affected parties and prevent legal actions related to the effects of the Incentive Spectrum Auction.”
