Seven months after the release of the National Broadband Plan, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is stepping up efforts to implement elements of that plan that call for the reallocation of spectrum. To jumpstart those efforts, the FCC held a spectrum summit at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., last week with speeches by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and other commissioners, the Obama Administration’s Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, and a pair of panels featuring industry and academic experts on spectrum management. The summit focused mostly on the anticipated increase in spectrum usage over the course of the next decade and the policy changes that may be necessary to accommodate this growing demand, including the possible reallocation of some broadcast spectrum for mobile broadband use.

Additionally, Chairman Genachowski announced plans to release a trio of notices at the November 30 FCC public meeting that could have a substantial impact on broadcast spectrum. Although details of those notices have not been released, Genachowski said that at least one notice would focus on the possibility of incentive auctions for broadcast spectrum and “will look at lifting technical restrictions so broadcast spectrum can be used for broadband.” The FCC would still need to get authority from Congress before it could move forward with any incentive auction of broadcast spectrum.

Please continue to check the NAB Pulse for updates on those notices when they are released.