re: NAB Concerned About Broadband Plan SpectrumThe Chairman of the FCC Julius Genachowski will be delivering a keynote at the National Association of Broadcasters( NAB) show on April 13,2010. The NAB is the largest single gathering of broadcasters worldwide and has attendance in its NAB Show of over 150,000. So why is the Chairman of the FCC delivering a keynote there? The answer may lie in the National Broadband Plan which was unveiled by FCC on March 15,2010.Amongst other things, this plan is designed to recoup and reassign 120 MHz of spectrum from Terrestrial TV transmission band and assign it for broadband wireless services. It is noteworthy that after the Digital Transition of TV services was completed in the United States in July 2009, a significant amount of spectrum in the upper 700 MHz band, which was being used for simultaneous transmissions by Analog transmitters was auctioned and reassigned for wireless services. The present plan will strike a second dent in the tightly used 700 MHz terrestrial broadcast spectrum. The reasoning of the FCC for reassigning this spectrum is based on the projections of data volumes over the net including on wireless media which will lead to the exhaustion of all broadband wireless spectrum. ( see http://broadcastengineering.co.... However, while being a strong supporter of WiMAX, I am unable to agree to this reasoning. The proliferation of mobile devices leaves no one in doubt that a major growth in demand will arise from these devices and video or TV delivered to mobile devices is one of the facets of such delivery- the other being the use of broadband wireless. It is interesting that just as mobile TV delivery via broadcast transmitters ( using both FLO and ATSC Mobile DTV) is set to pick up, the assessment of FCC seems to be that these devices are better served via broadband wireless than broadcast terrestrial TV. One would have thought that FCC could have considered the broadcast medium as economically more efficient. The proponents of the new plan claim that the ATSC mobile DTV leads to the use of the same spectrum merely adding the mobile transmissions. To this extent they are right- but it is at the expanse of capacity in the transport stream thus reducing the number of standard definition or high definition channels. The Mobile DTV using ATSC has a great potential and will indeed be a medium of delivery of high quality content. The broadcasters who have brought forth this technology deserve better than the broadcast spectrum being taken away. The "packing" plan will adversely affect the distributed transmitter networks, so vital for ATSC Mobile DTV. It is hoped that the NAB 2010 will be able to prevail on the FCC - that terrestrial broadcasting is yet to rise and show its potential. It is not a dead man walking.
So why is the Chairman of the FCC delivering a keynote there? The answer may lie in the National Broadband Plan which was unveiled by FCC on March 15,2010.Amongst other things, this plan is designed to recoup and reassign 120 MHz of spectrum from Terrestrial TV transmission band and assign it for broadband wireless services.
It is noteworthy that after the Digital Transition of TV services was completed in the United States in July 2009, a significant amount of spectrum in the upper 700 MHz band, which was being used for simultaneous transmissions by Analog transmitters was auctioned and reassigned for wireless services. The present plan will strike a second dent in the tightly used 700 MHz terrestrial broadcast spectrum.
The reasoning of the FCC for reassigning this spectrum is based on the projections of data volumes over the net including on wireless media which will lead to the exhaustion of all broadband wireless spectrum. ( see http://broadcastengineering.co....
However, while being a strong supporter of WiMAX, I am unable to agree to this reasoning. The proliferation of mobile devices leaves no one in doubt that a major growth in demand will arise from these devices and video or TV delivered to mobile devices is one of the facets of such delivery- the other being the use of broadband wireless.
It is interesting that just as mobile TV delivery via broadcast transmitters ( using both FLO and ATSC Mobile DTV) is set to pick up, the assessment of FCC seems to be that these devices are better served via broadband wireless than broadcast terrestrial TV. One would have thought that FCC could have considered the broadcast medium as economically more efficient.
The proponents of the new plan claim that the ATSC mobile DTV leads to the use of the same spectrum merely adding the mobile transmissions. To this extent they are right- but it is at the expanse of capacity in the transport stream thus reducing the number of standard definition or high definition channels.
The Mobile DTV using ATSC has a great potential and will indeed be a medium of delivery of high quality content. The broadcasters who have brought forth this technology deserve better than the broadcast spectrum being taken away. The "packing" plan will adversely affect the distributed transmitter networks, so vital for ATSC Mobile DTV.
It is hoped that the NAB 2010 will be able to prevail on the FCC - that terrestrial broadcasting is yet to rise and show its potential. It is not a dead man walking.
http://www.mobiletvhome.com