The FCC has formed an Incentive Auction Task Force, with the goal of using market forces to bring under utilized broadcast frequencies into commercial networks.
Incentive auctions were among the key features promoted in the National Broadband Plan outlined last year.
“Incentive auctions are a big idea. The concept, of course, which we developed in our National Broadband Plan, is to deploy market forces and a market-based mechanism to repurpose spectrum for flexible use, including mobile broadband. But there’s no doubt that the task ahead will be complex and challenging,” stated FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.
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- In February 2012, the U.S. Congress passed the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012”, which also granted voluntary incentive auction authority to the FCC.