Debunking Claims Made in the NAB Spectrum Briefing
Areas of Agreement
NAB
 “Broadcast innovation and broadband
development are not mutually exclusive
goals.”
 “Broadcasters do not oppose incentive
auctions, we do oppose any element of a
spectrum reallocation plan that would not
be completely voluntary.”
Debunking NAB Myths
NAB
 “No reallocation plan should move forward
without a complete accounting of how the
wireless airwaves are allocated, licensed
and used.”
 “Wireless companies and others may be
sitting on more than $15 billion in
warehoused spectrum.”
 “Broadcasters already returned 18 channels
(108 MHz) to the FCC as part of the DTV
transition, much of which has yet to be
utilized.”
AT&T
 Agree.
 A properly structured incentive spectrum auction
is a win-win-win-win situation for broadcasters,
the Treasury, wireless providers and consumers
by compensating broadcasters who are willing to
exit and those who relocate – with billions left
over for the Treasury. To date, wireless providers
have paid upwards of $78 billion to acquire new
spectrum at auction, with over $60 billion going
directly to the US Treasury.
AT&T
 A comprehensive inventory is already underway.
Calls for additional inventories would only create
unnecessary delay.
 Spectrum reallocation takes 6 to 13 years to
complete. The wireless industry is collectively
using 425 MHz of spectrum to serve over 292
million customers and is investing billions to
acquire additional spectrum to deploy next
generation technologies and services. 
 Licensees have strict build-out requirements that
they must meet and are deploying new LTE
technologies in this band. Consumer demand for
wireless broadband service is up 5,000% since
the transition to digital television, due in large
part to the mass proliferation of smartphones,
which is why the FCC is asking for more spectrum
so quickly. Cisco projects that global mobile data
traffic will grow 26 times between 2010 and
2015, which could result in spectrum exhaust in
certain markets in 2 to 3 years.
 Debunking Claims Made in the NAB Spectrum Briefing
Debunking NAB Myths
NAB
 “Reallocating 20 TV channels to wireless
carriers cannot be accomplished without a
serious disruption to TV service for millions
of Americans.”
 “Forty-two million Americans rely
exclusively on free, over-the-air
broadcasting.”
 “Television broadcasters use their spectrum
to deliver vital news and emergency
information and more to all Americans, free
of charge and are innovating on their
channels now, providing robust HDTV
programming, new channel offerings and
soon, mobile digital television.”
AT&T
 Untrue. Consumers will not need to purchase
any new equipment. Given the transition to
DigitalTV, any channel repacking by broadcasters
would not disrupt existing service.
 The percentage of households viewing television
solely through over-the-air broadcasts has
steadily declined over the past decade, from 24
percent in 1999 to 10 percent in 2010.
 This would not change and is part of the win win
proposition. By some economic estimates, if the
wireless industry were allowed to make
productive use of more of the TV bands, the
resulting social gains would be in the billions,
and that does not include the billions that would
be generated as proceeds at auction. Moreover,
mobile DTV broadcast businesses are most
advanced in Japan and South Korea, where nine
out of 10 mobile TV users worldwide reside.
Despite combined viewers of more than 69
million, neither country’s services have
succeeded financially yet.