This piece, published in the Hill’s Congressional Blog by ACI’s president, Steve Pociask, discusses how the FCC’s restrictive wireless auction rules — rules that favor some bidders over others — is a recipe for failure. The article shows that the auction rules will limit the proceeds, which in encourage fewer TV broadcasters to give up their spectrum. That, […]
auctions
FCC Needs to End Bias Spectrum Bidding Rules
Bidding Restrictions Could Lower Consumer Welfare by $230 Billion To deal with the looming spectrum crunch, Congress passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which would, through reverse auctions, compensate TV stations for giving up broadcast airwaves and, through forward auctions, allow wireless service providers to repurpose the spectrum […]
ACI in Real Clear Policy: Corporate Welfare in Spectrum Auctions
According to numerous reports in mid-April, the FCC has plans to earmark large pieces of auctioned wireless spectrum for certain carriers. The move is a contrast to the FCC’s original plan to offer spectrum up for competitive bidding and has many wondering if the FCC and Chairman Tom Wheeler are in the business of picking […]
ACI in The Hill’s Congress Blog: Spectrum Bailout is Regulatory Malpractice
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) appears to have decided that the upcoming broadband spectrum auctions should favor some competitors over others. To accomplish this, the FCC will set some revenue targets that, if met, would exclude bidding by AT&T and Verizon Communications, as well as potentially shutting out bidding by several regional carriers, such as […]
Consumers Paying Broadcasters Twice
This op-ed, published in The Hill’s Congressional Blog, discusses the consumer costs from retransmission consent and spectrum shortages.
Broadcaster Fees Harming Cable TV and Wireless Consumers
In case you missed it, ACI’s released a study last month finding that broadcast TV stations are raising there retransmission consent fees at a rate of 46% per year, which is raising consumer cable TV prices. What is worse, however, is that these fees are becoming so lucrative that they may discourage TV broadcasters from relinquishing spectrum for repurposing to wireless […]
More Spectrum Should be the Gold Medal Standard
Billions will tune in to watch world-class athletes compete at this year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, but something else will also be on display – the importance of wireless connectivity in shaping the experience of a global audience. The numbers involved at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London were nothing short of astonishing – there […]
Time to Repurpose Federal Spectrum
Just days before the close of 2013 came the year’s second bill attempting to address the country’s impending wireless spectrum shortage. The most recent bill, proposed by Senators Guthrie (R-KY) and Matsui (D-CA), again proposes an auction of currently underutilized spectrum, but shifts the focus of the auctions from the private sector to the public. […]
The Hill’s Congress Blog: Archaic Rules Jeopardize Spectrum Transfer
Failure to get more spectrum to wireless broadband consumers soon could result in nearly one-half trillion dollars in consumer welfare losses, according to a newly released study by the American Consumer Institute. To continue reading the article, visit The Hill’s Congress Blog. ACI’s study on this topic is available here.
ACI in Real Clear Policy: What TV Blackouts Have To Do With Mobile Phone Data
Zack Christenson writes an excellent piece on the findings of a recent ACI study that show how broadcast TV regulations will interfere with the upcoming spectrum auctions and will lead to massive consumer welfare losses for wireless broadband consumers. To read the piece, visit Real Clear Policy. ACI’s research study on this topic is available […]