Digital Television and Spectrums

I’m sure most of you have started to see the little scrolling tag lines on your television while you are watching some of your favorite programming. You know, the ones informing you of the impending change from analog television to digital transmission. What and why does this mean anything to you? Well, up until the last few years, broadcast television was available to you via an analog signal that you received via your antenna on your house, or rabbit ears or tin foil manipulated into some extraordinary configuration to pull in that station from 100 miles away. Now, with advances in technology, broadcasts have been migrating to a digital only signal. Yes, the signal can still be received by your normal antenna if you are pulling off-air content, due to an FCC regulation. What, the FCC actually made a standard that wouldn’t cost you extra money and the pain of installing a new antenna? Yep, they got that one right.

So what exactly is the hubbub about then if your same antenna will work (for the most part)? Here’s the rub, older television sets without a digital tuner built into them, will not be able to translate the digital signal into video. You will have a television that equates to a very heavy living room ornament. Well that’s not a very good thing you may be thinking. The latest figures show that the government believes there are 40 million households with analog televisions. Every single analog set in those houses will stop working without a digital converter box or digital service provider signal (cable or satellite usually). That’s definitely not good! What are we going to do right? Well, the government has conveniently thought of a program to help you through this “crisis.” You are able to apply for up to 2 coupons per household worth $40 each to be used to purchase a digital converter box to convert the new digital signal into an analog one that your television can then display.

That sounds great then, not too big a deal. Well, the government expects to shell out about $1.5 billion in these coupons to satisfy the public’s need. That’s a pretty hefty sum of money, what is the government going to gain by going through all this trouble? As the title of the article includes the word spectrums, let’s talk about that. This particular spectrum is a limited resource given our state of technology. Currently, almost all of the usable frequencies are used or reserved. This leads to very limited technology growth for new types of wireless services, products, etc. Cell phones, they use this spectrum, television, they use this spectrum, radio, also uses this spectrum. I’m sure you get the idea. With all the growth over the last 50 years in what we can do wirelessly, there is a great need for more space within this spectrum. Enter the FCC and the analog television broadcasts. Analog television takes up a large amount of space in the spectrum. Migrating to digital greatly diminishes the amount of spectrum necessary to send an even much higher quality signal. Even more channels can be transmitted when digital than for a given analog signal. It is a VERY good trade-off. More channels, higher quality, less spectrum use.

Well, so let’s get this straight. Your television really won’t stop working due to the converter boxes and the antenna you have will more than likely still work so you don’t have to worry about it, and the cost of the converter box will be mostly covered by the government provided certificate. All you get in return are more channels and higher quality broadcasts. Sounds like a win for the public right? Yes, it is. We will also be treated with new services in the near future that will be using the newly found “empty” spectrum that used to contain the analog signals. What’s the real reason behind all of this? It’s not to make the consumer happy is it? Nope, that is a by-product of the true reasoning behind the migration. The government, owners of the spectrum by our laws, has auctioned off this new resource. Latest released information shows the government will receive almost $20 Billion for the purchase of the new spectrum slots. Billion! Not million.

Sad to say, but that was far less than what they expected due to some very stringent rules and regulations on some of the frequencies available. However, it’s still a pretty nice windfall for the US government. A net of about $18.5 Billion will be directly deposited into the US Treasury. The government wants new technology to enter our lives and this was the easiest and most profitable way to do it. In the end, the new services generated by the introduction of this “new” spectrum space will generate many times the $20 Billion in auction money. How? Taxes, corporate earnings, stock gains, etc. Money will be spent, development will happen, and the public will buy the new services being offered that will only exist because of the availability of this newly freed space.

So there you go…. the real reason behind the change. Money. Did you really think it would be anything different? The more you read from the adventures of my mind, the more you will see that money is almost ALWAYS the root behind any decision being made. You might say power. I say power equates to money or wealth. You might say time, yes, that’s why I said “almost.” In the rare event that someone does something out the kindness of their heart, I say take a chance to thank them, because that is a RARE occurrence and in today’s world, it is a very welcome sight. However, sometimes you can mistake kindness from someone who is actually just a wolf doing things for monetary gains. Keep your eyes open and always look for the true motive, it’s usually right there, behind the veil of deception. Be wary of anything that involves the dollar bill.

Citation: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html