Interesting FCC Information
The FCC has revised the 700MHz wireless band. Oooh, what’s this mean for us? It means that it is planning to open up portions of the band to facilitate consumer broadband offerings. One might ask why is this a big deal; doesn’t everyone have broadband capability? Well, the answer is no. Some rural areas still have no access to a high-speed offering.
As the FCC puts it:
The FCC revised the 700 MHz band plan and service rules to promote the creation of a nationwide, interoperable broadband network for public safety and to facilitate the availability of new and innovative wireless broadband services for consumers. So what is “in” the 700MHz band? TV signals, the kind very few of us use anymore : )
This last comment shows how screwed up the idiots at the FCC are. They are so worked up about the upcoming selling of the airwaves, you would think they were getting a percentage (on second thought, perhaps they are).
Many people watch television today - without cable or satellite. Those of us who have cable or satellite still have terrestrial antennas, because there are outages (moreso with cable) and because there are always some stations available with an antenna that are never carried on cable or satellite.
The Bush administration has carved up much of the country for sale to their cronies, and this last effort is just another way to privatize things that should be publicly owned.
Some will assert that the proposed moving to digital television was conceived before ‘W’ took office, and they are right, but the changes that are so devastating to the public interest are from the era of ‘W’.