Companies should be compensated for 600 MHz spectrum reallocation: Rogers

OTTAWA — Rogers Communications Inc. moved its request to be compensated for the sale of 600 MHz spectrum to a new battlefront Tuesday morning, with representatives pleading the company’s case with parliamentarians. During an appearance in front of the House of Commons standing committee on Canadian Heritage, Colette Watson, Rogers’ vice president of television and broadcast operations, and Susan Wheeler, vice president of regulatory, media, outlined three recommendations for the committee in its examination of the news media. Along with modernizing government funding programs and ensuring the “sustainable financing for local news and programming,” the Rogers representatives repeated a call for broadcasters to be compensated with the proceeds of the upcoming auction to repurpose 600 MHz spectrum used by over-the-air stations for wireless use. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, formerly Industry Canada, announced the spectrum swap last year, with the intent to collaborate with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States “due to the long range of broadcast transmissions and the high percentage of the Canadian population that lives along the Canada-US border.” The decision also said Canadians would "benefit from the economies of scale of the ecosystem developed for the United States” with respect to mobile services. The FCC began its 600 MHz broadcast incentive spectrum auction on March 29. The timing of the Canadian auction will be determined once the American auction is finished, Innovation Canada spokesperson Stéfanie Power said in an email. The U.S. auction is expected to last for several months and will “determine the amount of commercial mobile spectrum available for repurposing in both countries,” Power said, adding that the department will “consult on the appropriate auction format and rules” before the Canadian auction takes place. According to the FCC website, the incentive auction is the first of its kind and is “a means of repurposing spectrum by encouraging licensees to voluntarily relinquish spectrum usage rights in exchange for a share of the proceeds from an auction of new licenses to use the repurposed spectrum.” Conservative MP Kevin Waugh challenged Rogers’ recommendation, which was formally made to Industry Canada more than a year ago during a consultation process on repurposing the spectrum. “Everybody wants to be compensated by government, and I’m tired of that, actually,” Waugh said. But broadcasters wouldn’t need to be compensated if it weren’t for the government taking over spectrum they already occupy, Watson responded, adding companies also had to pay for the 2011 switch from analog to digital over-the-air TV. “We haven’t even fully depreciated all of those costs,” Watson said. “And those are unrecoverable costs — it’s not like we can hang out a shingle and make some money off of this.” — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Companies should be compensated for 600 MHz spectrum reallocation: Rogers

Broadcast | April 19, 2016

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