BGSU announces Bowling Green public forums on FCC Incentive Auction/WBGU-TV

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Bowling Green State University has scheduled additional forums on WBGU-TV and the upcoming FCC Broadcast Spectrum Incentive Auction. The University is seeking public input as it weighs if, and how, it may participate in the auction, which is slated to be held in early 2016.

Two community forums will be held at BGSU on Aug. 10 and Sept. 2. Both forums start at 7 p.m. and will take place in 101 Olscamp Hall.

A forum will also be held in Lima at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3, in the Keese Hall Multipurpose Center on the Rhodes State College campus.

The incentive auction is the result of the growing use of smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices and the increased demand for spectrum, the over-the-air radio frequencies where all wireless communications like television, radio and wireless phone service travel. To meet this national need, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking to repurpose the 600 MHz spectrum, currently used for UHF television signals, for wireless use. To accomplish that, the FCC will hold a voluntary incentive auction providing UHF broadcasters the opportunity to sell their spectrum usage rights.

BGSU is eligible to participate because it owns a UHF broadcast license for its public television station – WBGU-TV.