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As part of a National Broadband Plan, the Federal Communications Commission will try to persuade broadcasters to relinquish some of the spectrum allocated just last year in the DTV transition.

Here's what new FCC chair Julius Genachowski said in an address to the New America Foundation:

The National Broadband Plan will set a goal of freeing up 500 Megahertz of spectrum over the next decade. We will work closely with NTIA to do so.

One of the best ways for us to achieve the right balance in the supply and demand of spectrum is to establish market-based mechanisms that enable spectrum intended for the commercial marketplace to flow to the uses the market values most.

The Broadband Plan will recommend one such mechanism. It will propose a "Mobile Future Auction" -- an auction permitting existing spectrum licensees, such as television broadcasters in spectrum-starved markets, to voluntarily relinquish spectrum in exchange for a share of auction proceeds, and allow spectrum sharing and other spectrum efficiency measures.

Though he says this latest spectrum shuffle won't deprive Americans of free over-the-air TV broadcasts, it's impossible to say at this stage what impact it might have. The DTV transition created winners and losers, with some viewers getting more channels and others getting fewer channels. Who would lose how many channels under the proposed voluntary scheme remains to be seen.

Genachowski's FCC is providing many rationales for its National Broadband Plan, saying it will create jobs, improve healthcare, provide educational opportunities, promote energy independence, enhance government performance, increase civic engagement, and protect homeland security.

See Genachowski's address (Word, PDF) and FCC press release (Word, PDF).