CBO
TESTIMONY
Statement of
David H. Moore
Senior Analyst
Natural Resources and Commerce Division
Congressional Budget Office
on
Digital Television
before the
Committee on the Budget
United States Senate
March 14, 1996
NOTICE
This statement is not available for public release until
it is delivered at 10:00 am (EST), Thursday, March 14, 1996. |
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I am pleased to appear before
you to discuss the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) estimates of the
receipts that might be generated by two proposals associated with television
broadcasting technologies. For simplicity, I will refer to those proposals
as Option I, technically known as the "analog return proposal/ and Option
II, sometimes called the "second-channel auction." My testimony today makes
three points.
- First, the radio spectrum is a valuable public resource. Auctioning licenses permitting use of the spectrum ensures that those licenses are granted to the parties who value them most and makes a substantial contribution to federal receipts. The Congress may choose among many different options in trying to capture those receipts to reduce the deficit. Prominent among the options are two proposals that direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to pursue different strategies in moving the nation to a new television broadcasting technology.
- Second, we stand at a fork in the road to the television of the future. The proposals discussed here today will lead to different allocations of a valuable part of the radio spectrum. The most important factors in choosing a course for the future are that the ultimate allocation of the spectrum produce the most value for society and that the benefits of transition be equitably shared among broadcasters, viewers, and taxpayers.
- Third, although federal receipts are an important factor in choosing a strategy for transition, the uncertainties involved in estimating spectrum receipts make CBO's estimates for the two proposals so close as to be indistinguishable.
This document is available in its entirety in PDF.