The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) met yesterday and the main, contentious (delaying the meeting into a rare evening session) topic of discussion (PDF) was the transition of television broadcast spectrum from channels 52 through 69 (698 - 806 MHz) to commercial use (via auctions) and to public safety use (via a grant). Some portions of this block of spectrum have already been auctioned, and the entire "700 MHz band" is encumbered by remaining television broadcasting which does not have to cease transmission until February 17, 2009.
Much ado is being made about the upcoming auctions for the remaining commercial "blocks" of the 700 MHz band, the dimensions and particulars of both the commercial and public safety portions, and, according to some, that this spectrum represents the "last, best chance" to establish a viable Broadband Wireless Internet Access system - perhaps nationwide.
The sad reality is that these auctions, like every other spectrum auction, will be "gamed" to a greater or lesser degree. It's inevitable, it's historical, and it's an indicator of how much money is at stake. As with the recent AWS auctions, while some bidders will be trying to acquire spectrum, other bidders will be simply be "blocking" and trying to run bid prices up to levels at which only very wealthy companies or consortiums will be able to purchase spectrum.
The mere allocation, auction, and acquisition of spectrum does nothing to promote the deployment of Broadband Internet Access; in fact the acquisition of spectrum is in many ways the "least of the worries" relating to deployment of Broadband Wireless Internet Access systems. Actual deployment of base station sites, backhaul to same, the financial resources required for such a massive deployment, user equipment, user acceptance, technological evolution... all of those are much bigger issues than merely winning "exclusive use" licenses for portions of spectrum.
I predict that the 700 MHz auctions are not the end of the reallocation of television broadcast spectrum. Most forget that the analog cellular band, 800 MHz commercial, and 800 MHz public safety bands were earlier reclaimed from television broadcast channels 70-83. Already, channels 14-20 are in use for public safety communications in some major metropolitan areas.
The simple truth is that terrestrial television broadcasting is an anachronism that very few people actually use. The vast majority of television viewers (I can't find a quotable, credible number at the moment) now receive their television signals via cable television or direct broadcast satellite (DBS). If television broadcasting were to cease entirely, only a minority of television viewers would even notice (it's my impression that most television stations feed their signal directly to cable and satellite providers). Television stations could continue their mission, and their business, completely uninterrupted... better, in fact, if the incredible financial and operational overhead of terrestrial television transmission was more widely recognized as no longer needed.
So... through the opportunistic use of "white space" (unused television broadcast channels in a given area) or by further en masse reallocation of some of the remaining 180 MHz (channels 21-36 and 38-51) of unencumbered television broadcast channels, I believe we will soon see more spectrum made available for communications in this portion of spectrum. The 700 MHz auctions of 2007 are just the beginning.
By Steve Stroh
This article is Copyright © 2007 by Steve Stroh.
There are many of us out here who choose not to use cable services or DSL for various reasons. I think you underestimate the number of us who use "rabbit ears>"
Posted by: Kathleen | December 10, 2007 at 09:14