The FCC’s Spectrum Policy Task Force has just wrapped up a series of four “workshops” on how best the agency can divvy up our electromagnetic spectrum.
In remarks at the closing workshop (held Aug. 9), FCC Chairman Michael Powell outlined four goals he wants to see the FCC work toward when it comes to managing spectrum. Goal #2 is the one that almost made me lose my lunch:
“Shift from a ‘command and control’ model of regulation to market based mechanisms. Powell said, ‘There is no question that we need to be able to deal with unpredictable and dynamic changes fast enough to be meaningful in the market and meaningful to consumers.’ He said that the ‘laborious process’ of government command and control ‘has served the country well to this point, but is futilely too slow to rapidly move things to new and better innovative uses.'”
Let me repeat Powell’s last sentiment, as it bears noting twice – “He said that the ‘laborious process’ of government command and control ‘has served the country well to this point, but is futilely too slow to rapidly move things to new and better innovative uses.'”
Now, we’ve known all along that Powell has been a big supporter of deregulation, and that he would further advance the business-friendly policies that have led the media to the state it’s in today. But what Powell’s suggesting here is a wholesale replacement of what little regulatory structure there is with market-run-rampant mechanisms. Doing so on such a core function of the FCC – spectrum management issues – means he’s much more dangerous when we first thought.
You’d think watching the telecom industry implode would register with Mikey Powell, possibly making him re-think the “market knows best” mantra that he so fervently subscribes to. Alas, it is not to be. All the more reason to redouble direct action efforts to reclaim our airwaves, as it appears that’s the only thing the FCC will take notice of.
On that front, a new documentary on the West Coast microradio scene is forthcoming: “Stealing Air” features footage and soundbites from many of microradio’s notable stations like Freak Radio Santa Cruz, San Francisco Liberation Radio and Free Radio Berkeley. No word yet on when it will actually be released, so stay tuned….
The FCC’s LPFM plan continues to crawl along, with new construction permits (and some actual LPFM licenses) trickling out of the agency almost every month. Some are exploiting loopholes in the plan, like the stations in Ohio, Florida and Indiana which are apparently simulcasting full-power radio stations. Then there’s Waverly Light and Power, a municipal-owned utility company in Waverly, Iowa, who has received a construction permit for an LPFM station on 96.9. It plans to use the station for “energy education, interviews with community leaders, and call-in programs.” Hey, it beats looped traffic reports!