NAB Attacks T-Mobile Repacking Study

T-Mobile's repacking study has “significant flaws,” NAB told staff from the offices of Commissioners Mike O'Rielly, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel in meetings Monday, said an ex parte filing in docket 12-268. T-Mobile's “serious underestimation of the time required to repack stations” is partially based on a misunderstanding of the flexibility of broadcast antennas, NAB said. Even though the antennas can be adjusted to receive a range of frequencies, they generally can't replicate a station's coverage on a different channel, and would likely require adjustments and a new transmitter, NAB said: T-Mobile also misjudged the number of tower crews, including crews that don't currently perform broadcast work. “Many of NAB’s members have never even heard of a number of the tower crews T-Mobile claims are qualified to perform broadcast work,” NAB said. “These are not experienced, trusted partners, and broadcasters will not put their most valuable asset in the hands of unproven vendors.” T-Mobile's study (see 160304005) is “outcome-driven, oversimplified and misleading,” NAB said. “Disappointingly, Commission staff meanwhile appears to be focused only on auction expediency.”