Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, says the FCC's broadband plan due to Congress next month must be "more than a 'plan for a plan'" and must look at all stakeholders before deciding to take back spectrum from any one of them.
Her remarks came in an op-ed piece for The Hill, published Wednesday.
Hutchison said that finding more spectrum should be a priority of the commission and a focus of the report. But she also said there are no easy solutions. "[T]he Commission's analysis must look broadly at all spectrum use by commercial entities and the federal government before reaching conclusions about particular spectrum that should be reallocated," she said.
Broadcasters are concerned that the beachfront status of their spectrum allocation -- it is well-suited for wireless uses because of its propagation characteristics -- and hard lobbying by computer companies arguing it is being underutilized, could put their holdings in the commission's crosshairs.
Hutchison called for a "bold and comprehensive" report that has big role for state and local governments.
