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From Analog TV to Wireless Broadband!
By Chet Thaker , CEO

On February 17, 2009 all full-power broadcast television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting on analog airwaves and begin broadcasting only in digital. Digital broadcasting will allow stations to offer improved picture and sound quality and additional channels.” So says the FCC’s site for digital television (DTV.gov). If you still use the analog televisions, your TV will go dark on that day! To see a picture on your TV set, you will need a converter box – or a new digital TV. (FCC will send you $40 rebate cards towards purchase of these converter boxes for the asking – limit two per family.)

Analog TV uses radio frequency that is just perfect for going through walls even after traveling long distances – as you would need for home television sets with rabbit ear antennas. So… you might then wonder just where the newly released frequency spectrum might go. FCC held an auction recently for this spectrum and cleared $19 billion. The big winners shelling out $16b combined were Verizon ($9.4b) and AT&T ($6.6b).

The most interesting drama in this auction was the role Google (with its billions in treasure) played. Google wanted FCC to declare the wireless spectrum to offer “open access” whereby the customers can use any phone or software on the network as long as it caused no harm to the network. (The wireless carrier would test the device to pre-certify that.) Open access idea is very similar to what happened in the wireline long distance industry after the 1969 Carterfone decision by the US Supreme Court that opened up AT&T’s network to connection by non-AT&T made equipment. (Ma Bell used to charge over 30 cents per minute for its long distance service prior to seeing competition from this decision.) Google said it was prepared to pay up to $4.6 billion for some the spectrum that it wanted. During the auction, Verizon bought that spectrum set aside for “open access” for about $4.7b. Although in this auction Google bought no spectrum, it achieved its “open access” goal.

AT&T and Verizon have both announced plans to offer the so called “fourth generation” wireless networks on this spectrum. These are broadband networks capable of 1.7 mbps or greater speeds that will help you do so much more with your mobile wireless devices, laptops, etc. Worldwide, there was an explosive growth last year (on GSM networks) of wireless broadband users. Although it will take three more years to bring about these wireless broadband networks in the US, the course is set, foundation has been laid, and the march has begun.

Although it took years to get this spectrum back from the television broadcast networks, FCC’s auction of this spectrum with its open access rules (even for parts of it) is a watershed event. These moves usher in the technology platforms that lead towards a new wireless lifestyle that will touch the lives of most Americans – e.g., telecommuting for saving gasoline costs, interconnected healthcare systems and devices, IPTV and video entertainment on handsets, and home appliances or commercial equipment items, sporting their IPv6 addresses, chattering away to their far away efficiency monitors.

Let’s go!

Have you taken a carbon footprint assessment of your life yet, or should you even care?

Whether you agree that global warming is real, can you really argue that we shouldn't reduce pollution levels to improve our air quality? Who doesn't want cleaner air to breath? I'm amazed at the amount of attention this issue has received and yet people aren't acting as if this is a state of emergency. People say they recycle at home but continue to toss cans and bottles in regular trash at work, at the gas station, at hotels, wherever which ultimately end up in our landfills.

I just got back from my first trip to Alaska. It was beautiful, but what I couldn't help but notice were the plastic bags floating around everywhere. I saw amazing wild animals with wonderful snow covered mountains in the background and trash right next to the plants moose were trying to eat. The roadways are lined with salt chemicals from the winter, about 3 feet wide and 5 inches deep. We hiked to a waterfall only to find some guy carving his name into a tree and dropping his beer can over the cliff. What happened to respecting nature?

For too long people have had an "I can afford it" mentality. It's not about being able to afford letting your car sit idle for 45 minutes or running your house AC when it's 70 degrees outside. It's about thinking beyond yourself.

You should care. Please take a carbon footprint assessment and see where you can make some improvements in your home, your travels, your food, and what you leave behind.

The Nature Conservancy carbon footprint calculator

Thank you!!

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