Do you watch over-the-air television? If so, you might have seen a message over the past three years urging you to rescan your television. That’s because, for the past 39 months, the country has been moving through the “broadcast repack,” where some TV stations, following the FCC’s broadcast television incentive auction, switched their frequencies to make more airwaves or “spectrum” available for wireless broadband and other uses.
July 13 marks the end of that 39-month transition period, which involved extensive work and collaboration between the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force, broadcasters, wireless providers, tower technicians, and others. What did the transition mean for consumers? How has the broadcast repack affected 5G and wireless broadband, particularly with increased bandwidth demands during COVID-19? How did the government, private sector, and consumer education groups collaborate to get this done? What lessons can we learn from the repack?
Watch this video recording of our Webinar featuring a message from Congressman Greg Walden and keynote remarks from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai followed by an expert panel:
Moderator:
Steve Pociask, President, American Consumer Institute
Panelists:
Jean Kiddoo, Chair, FCC Incentive Auction Task Force
Hillary DeNigro, Deputy Chair, FCC Incentive Auction Task Force
Peter Starke, Vice President for Broadcast, American Tower
Steve Sharkey, Vice President for Engineering and Technology, T-Mobile
Rick Kaplan, General Counsel & EVP, National Association of Broadcasters