The FCC plans a complicated spectrum auction next year that would reallocate spectrum in the 600 MHz range from broadcast use to mobile communication use. As an incentive, broadcasters could sell their spectrum back to the government and either go out of business or share a 6 MHz channel with another broadcaster. Each station that […]
Capital Currents: ATSC 3.0 challenges
You have probably heard a little about broadcaster plans to switch to a new generation of digital TV broadcasting, called “ATSC 3.0”. But until recently, most of the details were closely held. In May, ATSC held a “boot camp” where the new technology was exposed in some detail. So now we know that carrying this […]
Wireless Microphones: Incentive Auction Losers
The FCC has released a nearly 500-page decision that lays out the rules for the broadcast spectrum incentive auction. Broadcasters willing to sell their spectrum back to the government will tell the FCC their selling price, and mobile radio operators that want to use that spectrum for LTE cellular phone service will bid for it. […]
Capital Currents: TV Broadcasting – The Next Generation
Back in the analog days, TV technology was very stable. It barely changed from one decade to the next. But in our digital world today, there can be significant technology changes from one decade to the next. At least, it might happen that way. In the U.S., TV technology standards are developed and documented by […]
Capital Currents: DASH—The Next Big Thing?
It’s too early to say whether DASH will be a marketplace success. Video industry groups around the world are trying to get their hands around DASH—Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP—to understand what it is, and decide whether to use it. So here’s a short tutorial. The problem that DASH addresses is the varying channel […]
Capital Currents: 5 GHz Unlicensed Devices
The 2013 Cable Show was held in Washington and was well attended by FCC staffers. The industry continuously pleaded with the FCC to move quickly to make more unlicensed spectrum available at 5 GHz. The FCC has a proceeding underway, but the situation is very complicated. The FCC regulates the 5725-5850 MHz “WiFi” band under […]
Capital Currents – Video quality assessment
The FCC regulating video picture quality is a bad idea. The FCC has a proceeding underway to update its cable TV technical regulations. For the most part, there is agreement that the version of SCTE 40 adopted last year contains the appropriate technical specifications for digital cable systems. But the FCC also asked whether it […]
Capital Currents – Emergency information for sight-impaired viewers
This Federal Communications Commission proposal doesn’t accomplish much. A little over a year ago, I wrote about the newly reinstated FCC rules on video description. Video description is the audio track that gives sight-impaired viewers both the main program audio and a narrative description of the onscreen action of a TV program or movie. As […]
Capital Currents – The FCC’s attack on Channel 37
Most likely, the radio astronomers will be safe. If you read any trade publications, then you know the FCC has a plan to induce broadcasters to give up some of their frequency spectrum assignments so that more spectrum becomes available for mobile communications. But the FCC plan might also bump the radio astronomy scientists out […]
Capital Currents – Cell phone standards and antitrust behavior
I wonder about 3GPP. As those of us who participate in industry standards development are continually reminded, since standards have strategic and competitive importance, they must be developed using fair methods by committees that allow wide participation and consider all proposals. A recent court decision suggests the mobile communications industry doesn’t develop its standards that […]