The Wireless Spectrum Scramble

[Terry Olaes]

No, it’s not the daily special at Denny’s, though that would be a neat theme for a restaurant now that I think about it. I’d like a spectrum scramble with a side of bloatware bacon and some GTA Hot Coffee. Anyway, the AP tells us that the popularity of wireless devices is forcing service providers to scramble for available spectrum.

"Spectrum is the equivalent of our highways," says Christopher Guttman-McCabe, vice president of regulatory affairs for CTIA-The Wireless Association, an industry trade group. "That's how we move our traffic. And the volume of that traffic is increasing so dramatically that we need more lanes. We need more highways."

 

[Raxiel]

So... Is the wireless spectrum a series of tubes? Or is it more like a big truck?

 

[Gorankar]

So... Is the wireless spectrum a series of tubes? Or is it more like a big truck?

It's free like air, only it costs more than most make in a lifetime.

 

[-=Antimatter=-]

They can't expand forever. Instead of bitching about the large slice of the pie they have, they should be researching new technologies to make better use of the spectrum they already have.

 

[sfsuphysics]

So where does the money from the selling/auctioning (leasing??) of "the peoples" airwaves actually go?

 

[HOCP4ME]

So where does the money from the selling/auctioning (leasing??) of "the peoples" airwaves actually go?

I guess it goes to the FCC. When the FCC sold the analog TV frequencies, they used the money to pay for the converter box coupon program to ease the transition.

 

[Format _C:]

Damn The Fricken FCC
DTV Sucks Analog TV was much "better" at least the picture would not freeze like a broken satellite dish and if you had poor signal all you got was a snowy picture now its either a picture full of glitches or nothing at all or if you are close to the transmitter you will get a perfect picture
I don't get the need for change as I assume most people who can afford an HDTV can afford to at least have cable or Satellite

 

[Enduring_Warrior]

Damn The Fricken FCC
DTV Sucks Analog TV was much "better" at least the picture would not freeze like a broken satellite dish and if you had poor signal all you got was a snowy picture now its either a picture full of glitches or nothing at all or if you are close to the transmitter you will get a perfect picture
I don't get the need for change as I assume most people who can afford an HDTV can afford to at least have cable or Satellite

Then it's good you are here.

It's better for the carriers.Here are some general advantages out of the top of my head by logic and I'm no expert.

It costs less to broadcast.
It takes less power.
By using a satellite you can reach much further.
It's much more scalable(potential to grow).
It's atone with the new technology, (everything is digital) which means it costs less.

 

[Enduring_Warrior]

They can't expand forever. Instead of bitching about the large slice of the pie they have, they should be researching new technologies to make better use of the spectrum they already have.

Lol, it's so easy to give an opinion without knowing anything.
I think what you say is the factual reason why Internet is such a big deal now, fiber optics, compression algorithms and stuff like that you know? In wireless things are much more though.

I'm amazed that I didn't knew anything about the Top Ten guys in technology that Terry linked to at Times magazine above. But I knew about That Golf champion and his affairs, or Michael Jackson private stuff. But hey, it's still entertaining right?
There was a time when everyone knew about Einstein, Marie Curie, Bohr and Von Braun.
Now all there is are celebrities and highly opinionated and misinformed people.

 

[HOCP4ME]

I'm amazed that I didn't knew anything about the Top Ten guys in technology that Terry linked to at Times magazine above. But I knew about That Golf champion and his affairs, or Michael Jackson private stuff. But hey, it's still entertaining right?
There was a time when everyone knew about Einstein, Marie Curie, Bohr and Von Braun.
Now all there is are celebrities and highly opinionated and misinformed people.

It never ceases to amaze me how much entertainment pepople derive from knowing the details of someone else's private life.

Luckily, enough smart people work behind to scenes to keep everything running.

 

[gmsmstr]

THis is so true. Over the past number of years, wireless ISPs, small locally owned business for the most part, havfe been trying to get more spectrum. Big boys buy huge chunks for millions and millions and tens of millions of dollars, however, the WISP is the one that is delivering services today!

On the point of advance technology, you are correct, in wireless ISP operations, we can do at little as 1meg using a 20mhz chunk of spectrum, or some old radios, 1.5 meg on 80mhz. Ouch. There are options out there though, getting 1000 meg out of less than 40mhz, and 10 300meg out of less than 20. Those get expensive but they work and work quite well, unless there is expensive licensing, frequency coordination with the FCC etc, that takes time and lots of cash. Right now WISPs have less than 1000mhz, while most Wireless cell carriers have upwards of several thousand mhz.

On the DVTV stuff, one thing that the FCC promised was to have more frequency space for unlicensed operations, most WISPs, however the rules imposed for broadcasters using wireless MICs and other types of operations were deamed more important than broadband.

 

[PheonixChameleon]

Lol, it's so easy to give an opinion without knowing anything.
I think what you say is the factual reason why Internet is such a big deal now, fiber optics, compression algorithms and stuff like that you know? In wireless things are much more though.

I'm amazed that I didn't knew anything about the Top Ten guys in technology that Terry linked to at Times magazine above. But I knew about That Golf champion and his affairs, or Michael Jackson private stuff. But hey, it's still entertaining right?
There was a time when everyone knew about Einstein, Marie Curie, Bohr and Von Braun.
Now all there is are celebrities and highly opinionated and misinformed people.

People still know about Einstein, Marie Curie, etc. etc. .. They're taught everyday in history classes. Although I assume what you were trying to imply was that people cared more about the sciences and whatnot in earlier times.. and I chuckle and sneeze at that notion because most of the famous scientist and mathematicians that we know now, were not very famous people in their own eras and were not nearly as well recognized (as well as a lot of their research not being validated) until well after they were already dead.

By the way.. information about what's going on around the world is very easily obtainable if you spend about ten minutes to look for it. I don't know why it's so popular around here for everyone to look down on society as a whole and sneer in condescension like you're superior beings.. but it's grown rather old to see in every other news thread.