The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) says broadcasters are costing the country $14,444 a minute by holding onto their "underused" spectrum and not agreeing to auction it off for wireless broadband and has set up a "Spectrum Crunch Clock" to keep a running tally of the cost.
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Screengrab: the Consumer Electronics Association's Spectrum Crunch Clock. Click here to see it in action. |
The FCC has a "bold" national broadband plan and "intense lobbying by broadcast television stations has stalled progress," the CEA said in a news release.
Broadcasters, of course, disagreed via a statement from Dennis Wharton, executive vice president of communications for NAB that cited CEA "childish gimmicks and hysteria" and added that "NAB has never opposed the notion of broadcasters voluntarily giving back additional spectrum, so long as non-volunteers are held harmless."
For more:
- see the spectrum clock
- see this news release
- and this news release
Special Report: Broadcasters' spectrum crisis could end up being cable's problem
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