NAB Filing on Meeting With FCC, Wireless Not Sufficiently Transparent, Says LPTV Coalition

An NAB ex parte filing describing a meeting Thursday between numerous associations and wireless carriers and FCC staff is too brief and violates agency rules, said LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition Director Mike Gravino in a formal complaint. The NAB filing doesn't meet “the level of disclosure required by the FCC” and asked that “a proper detailed filing be made as soon as possible,” Gravino said. The meeting involved commission staff and the Association for Public Television Stations, AT&T, the Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, NAB, PBS, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, said the NAB filing. The ex parte letter said NAB and APTS “discussed some of the potential challenges associated with the process of repacking broadcasters following the incentive auction,” while the wireless officials “discussed the importance of certainty and transparency in the spectrum reallocation process.” All participants “agreed to collaborate to allow as expeditious a transition as possible” and “to continue to engage on this issue,” the NAB ex parte letter said. “How was the agreed upon collaboration proposed to be structured?” asked Gravino, in a list of questions he said the ex parte filing should have specified, including what specific challenges were discussed, and whether low-power TV or translators were discussed at the meeting. “Does this “collaboration” rise to the level of collusion between sellers and buyers?” asked Gravino. The NAB filing ”does not meet the requirements for proper ex parte disclosure,” he said.