Posted on Mon, Mar 15, 2010 @ 11:20 AM
I would love a broadband connection at my house that pumps out 100 mbps. (My cable connection is now 8.26 mbps and I think it's pretty fast.)
This week the federal government will announce a plan to make the information highway the autobahn in the next few years - in part by taking spectrum space away from broadcasters and using it to beef up the internet. It's a bitter pill for broadcasters, who have been favored in the regulatory world for the past 60 years. Is the FCC about to shunt over-the-air television to the spectrum sideline and diminish it as a medium forever?
I don't think so. The value of broadcast TV is just too high. I have a hard time believing this is as simple as the bureaucrats wheeling out a new plan for the future and everyone applauding because they can download movies more quickly. It comes down to two key groups: consumers and politicians.
Consumers because Americans watch more TV than any other group in the world, and the system responsible for most of that content is broadcasting. The audience has even confirmed that choice in recent years by going out and purchasing expensive HDTV's - even in the midst of a recession - in order to see the best quality signals, whether they are delivered on cable, satellite or over-the-air.
The spectrum required to launch mobile TV is hanging in the balance with the government's new broadband plan. Who better than broadcasters can develop a service that would put local over-the-air television on your cellphone?
Then there are the politicians. Overwhelmingly, people in this country get their political info from television. That includes finding out about candidates trying to get elected who advertise on TV. Do politicians have the will to let down the medium that plays a key role in putting them into office? I doubt it. The FCC's plan may have to change given the political realities.
Sure, I want a faster, better internet and there's only so much spectrum to go around. But first, you'll have to pry the remote control out of my hand.
-- John Altenbern