Political Conventions Rely On FCC For Coordinating Spectrum

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convnetion (1)Make no mistake who rules the floor at the upcoming national party conventions; it’s the FCC and Coordinating Committee Chairman Louis Libin.

Both the Republican and Democratic party events taking place in Cleveland and Philadelphia respectively rely on spectrum coordination to make their messages and each other heard across a noisy arena.  According to Inside Radio, Libin will be the single point of contact to make it all happen via the Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) stations, which will allow the networks to transmit between the convention floor and the studios.

“For these events of major public importance, there is no one broadcaster who holds rights to control spectrum,” the FCC said in a recent in a statement. The job of the Frequency Coordinating Committee will be to designate auxiliary broadcast frequency coordinators and their interaction with the BAS operations within a 100 kilometer radius of each event.  Additional restrictions by the FAA covering a wider area apply as well.

With the anticipated surge in usage, the FCC is expecting some problems such as “spectrum congestion and excessive interference, resulting in less complete broadcast coverage.”  The FCC is also concerned about a new element in the mix, according to Inside Radio, “unlicensed next-generation white space devices operating in the TV bands”.

The lessons learned at these events will help structure the set-up for the inevitable conclusion, the inauguration of the new President at the U.S. Capitol in January.

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