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The electromagnetic spectrum is used by many private companies, like carriers. Would you want to disband that as well, and make it free for everyone to use?

(I'm a huge proponent that all infrastructure should be public, but I still think that carrier usage should be paid by the users, at least beyond some minimal usage)

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Apples and oranges.

Broadcasting is a "one-to-many" operation, where the target "many" is indeed the public. Concern about public interest is relevant.

Carriers create a "one-to-one" service. Users of the service are not being addressed in a public manner except in an infrastructural way (broadcast addresses in a content-oriented as well as infrastructural method). Concern about public interest can only be limited to "can any member of the public obtain this service?"

Exactly. It's also a very finite resource, and while some of the spectrum is allocated for private use, it is the FCC's job to protect that which is for public interest as well. Broadcast television is the only kind of television some people can receive, and it is in our collective interest to keep that open and accessible.

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