South Carolina Leases ETV Spectrum to Wireless ProvidersNovember 18, 2009
 COLUMBIA, S.C.: The state of South Carolina has leased its
broadcast licenses to two wireless providers. The South Carolina Budget and
Control board leased the airwaves controlled by the state for $143 million for
a period of three decades to Clearwire Communications and DigitalBridge
Communications, according to the Columbia
Free Times. The board reportedly approved the lease at its Oct. 29 meeting.
Minutes of the meeting are not yet posted online, but the agenda
is, and it did include the item.
The two lessees, Clearwire of Kirland, Wash., and DigitalBridge of Ashburn,
Va., specialize in wireless broadband and will presumably create such a network
in South Carolina, though the Times
did not say as much.
The Times said South Carolina is one
of few states to own its educational television broadcast licenses.
Universities typically control ETV systems. The S.C. ETV system will continue
to run on a portion of the state’s licensed airwaves--5 percent, according to
the Times.
The actual amount of bandwidth wasn’t identified in the article, but Sascha
Meinrath of the New America Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C.,
suggested the state got shafted.
“Under a far more legitimate deal, the residents of South Carolina could be
enjoying the benefits of low-cost or possibly even free broadband connectivity,”
he told the Times. “Instead, they are
being forced to watch as one of the state’s most valuable resources is being
plundered for pennies on the dollar of its actual worth.”
The contract is said to have a buyback provision allowed the state to
“recapture” up to 20 percent of the midband licenses, though the method for
doing so was said to be undefined.
The Free Times article is available here.
| COMMENTS (2) | | 11/20/2009 | | Actually, this has nothing to do with the OTA viewers at all. The spectrum that is being leased is in the 2.5 GHz microwave spectrum, previously known as the ITFS (Instructional Television Fixed Service). This is a common misconception since it comes at relatively the same time as the OTA digital conversion, but in reality, they are two completely seperate parts of the spectrum. |
| | 11/18/2009 | | What a travesty. The State of South Carolina has just sold out all of the OTA viewers serviced by these transmitters. They have failed their mission as public broaders, and should be heavily penalized for doing so. And this comes at a time when the FCC has designs on the spectrum for TV broads. Broaders need all the help they can get to prevent the ending of free, over-the-air TV, |
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