OFFICE OF
THE CHAIRMAN
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON
January 19, 2018
The Honorable Jennifer González-Colón
U.S. House of Representatives
2435 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congresswoman Gonzalez-ColOn:
Thank you for your letter urging the Commission to permit television stations in Puerto
Rico that have been reassigned to new channels in the post-incentive auction transition to move
to their new channels as quickly as possible. I appreciate your interest in restoring broadcast
television service to Puerto Rico residents in an efficient manner.
FCC staff has worked closely with the affected TV stations to enable them to move to
their new post-incentive auction channels as part of their near-term hurricane recovery efforts. I
am pleased to report that on January 11, 2018, the Commission's Incentive Auction Task Force
and Media Bureau issued a Public Notice granting the requests of 20 stations in Puerto Rico and
the U.S. Virgin Islands to advance the schedule for their construction of new broadcast facilities
on their post-auction channels. Specifically, the stations may begin testing on their new channels
as of July 1, 2018, and will discontinue use of their pre-auction channels no later than August 1,
2018.
As you note, granting these waivers prevents wasteful duplicative construction and
equipment costs for stations whose towers and equipment were devastated by the storms. Doing
so also enables access by the stations to funding from the TV Broadcaster Reimbursement Fund
for the portions of the recovery costs attributable to their post-incentive auction relocation.
Additionally, the waiver grant will mean that over-the-air TV viewers in Puerto Rico will only
need to rescan their tuners once to ensure uninterrupted viewing.
We are pleased that the Commission has been able to assist the 20 stations in their effort
to restore a vital source of information and means of communication to the millions of affected
viewers in Puerto Rico. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
Sincerely,
VL
Ajt V. Pai
Enclosure
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