NAB crunches Time Warner Cable for spectrum hoarding

If the FCC needs more spectrum to promote a wireless broadband agenda it should look at cable operators like Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC-WI) which are holding and not using Advanced Wireless Spectrum (AWS).

"If there truly is a 'spectrum crisis' then allowing companies the size of Time Warner to hoard airwaves should not be permitted," Gordon Smith, the NAB's president-CEO wrote to the chairman and ranking members of the House and Senate Commerce Committees.

The NAB's argument is tough to dispute for Time Warner Cable and other cable operators who are not moving forward with wireless plays. TWC COO Robert Marcus admitted during the MSO's recent earnings that the MSO has "no current plans to divest of the spectrum or otherwise monetize it. And at this moment in time we don't have specific plans to utilize it either."

The FCC is looking for ways to get more spectrum for a national broadband wireless play and has been targeting "voluntary" spectrum recovery from broadcasters.

For more:
- AdWeek has this story

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