The delay was sought by wireless companies, who need the airwaves but worry that the spectrum to be auctioned might not be open to them for years to come, or could prove too costly to obtain.
Broadcasters are required by law to give up the spectrum as part of the transition to digital TV. But they don't have to relinquish their hold until January 2007 or whenever digital TV reaches 85 percent of the television market, whichever comes first.
Station owners such as Paxson Communications Corp. wanted the auctions to go forward now, with many planning to make money by relinquishing their airwaves early to the license winners.
"That leaves enormous uncertainty about how much it's going to cost to get a certain spectrum; how much time it's going to take to get it once you purchase the license," said Kimberly Kuo, spokeswoman for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. "That doesn't make for good business decisions."
Spectrum used for local TV channels 52 to 59 around the country was scheduled to be auctioned Wednesday. A last-minute compromise approved by the House and Senate on Tuesday required the delay and abolished the existing deadline for the auction. Bush signed it into law on Wednesday.
It's now up to the FCC to determine when that auction -- and another auction for channels 60 to 69, currently set for January -- should be held. An exception was made for some frequencies of particular interest to rural areas in need of wireless service; Congress said those frequencies should be auctioned late this summer.
Congressional committees have been mulling how best to allocate the nation's available airwaves between wireless companies, emergency service providers and the Defense Department.
Wireless companies want the FCC to hurry the slow-moving transition to digital TV and push broadcasters off the upper stations. Eventually, broadcasters will occupy only channels 2 through 51.
But leaving the air before digital TV is widely used would cost stations audience and money, even if they continue on cable, said Nancy Udell, spokeswoman for Paxson Communications. Nineteen Paxson stations, including those in Washington, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and Dallas, would be affected.
Udell said negotiations between auction winners and the broadcasters "are the only way that everybody is going to be able to get off the spectrum early."
"Now we're at a standstill," she said.
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