The FCC said today that a date is now announced by which LPTV and TV Translator stations must be “operating” in order to participate in the Post-Incentive Auction Special Displacement Window. Here’s the catch: we don’t know what that exact date is.
The date will be the date that the “Channel Reassignment Public Notice” is released following the completion of the reverse auction. The FCC said in it’s announcement today, “we note that we cannot predict with certainty the date of the conclusion of the now active auction or the release of the Channel Reassignment Public Notice”.
The FCC will release a “Channel Reassignment Public Notice” specifying the new channel assignments and technical parameters of the full power and Class A television stations that are assigned new channels in the repacking process or as the result of a winning bid in the reverse auction.
The window will be limited to those operating stations that (1) are displaced by a full power or Class A television station as a result of the incentive auction or the repacking process, (2) will cause interference to or receive interference from frequencies repurposed for new, flexible use by a 600 MHz Band wireless licensee, or (3) are licensed on frequencies that will serve as part of the 600 MHz Band guard bands. And, of course, the stations need to be on-the-air.