Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Newsvine
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiWireless to The People
I'm no football fan, but I paid close attention to Saturday's preseason showdown between the Washington Redskins and the Buffalo Bills - not for what was happening in the game, but was happening at the game.
The Federal Communications Commission used the stadium to test mobile wireless devices that harness vacant portions of the public airwaves. To me, the results of these tests - which could lead to high-speed Internet access for all Americans - is more thrilling than any quarterback sack.
In the early days of television, the government established empty spectrum areas (dubbed "white spaces") between TV channels to guard against broadcast interference. These white spaces are beachfront property for broadband spectrum, with signal strength so powerful it can penetrate buildings and travel long distances. Think Wi-Fi on steroids.
Nearly every market in the United States has empty broadcast channels currently sitting dormant. When the country transitions to digital television in February 2009, the number of these channels will only grow, freeing up even more white spaces.
In 2005, Free Press analyzed the amount of white space that will be available post-transition, and the results are stunning. In Juneau, Alaska, for example, as much as 74 percent of the broadcast spectrum will be empty. In the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, where airwaves are considerably more congested, 40 percent of the spectrum will be up for grabs.
Companies like Motorola, Phillips and Microsoft have been developing new wireless digital technologies for installation in computers and phones to avoid all interference with broadcast channels. With these advances, the unused spectrum could - and should - make universal, affordable high-speed Internet access a reality to millions of Americans now stuck using antiquated dial-up modems, or with no access at all.
A (Potential) Boon for the Countryside
Most exciting is the effect white spaces could have on rural communities where Internet service providers have refused to build out broadband services. According to a 2007 survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, less than one third of rural residents had access to broadband at home, compared to more than half of city dwellers.
With more airwaves dedicated to broadband service, rural communities previously frozen out of the digital era may finally enjoy the same social and economic benefits of high-speed Internet as millions of other Americans. And urban areas, too, which contain pockets of underserved communities, may finally find relief from long lines at library computers.
But there's an important caveat: not just any use of white spaces will do. It is crucial that white space airwaves remain "unlicensed" - just like the spectrum's existing Wi-Fi band - so anyone can use them.
The government has the option to license the airwaves, auctioning them off to the highest bidder, who will have an exclusive right to determine how they are used. This highest bidder - say, a major broadcasting company - might have an incentive to simply sit on the vacant white spaces, rather than using them for the public good. We can't take that chance.
Think of it this way: Devices like baby monitors and garage door openers don't need a license to use the airwaves; the same should be true for wireless devices using white spaces to access the Internet.
White space spectrum has the greatest potential to expand and improve wireless communications when paired with mobile devices, like laptops and cell phones. Imagine a farmer installing mobile devices on machinery or even livestock to ensure broadband coverage in remote areas, or a firefighter transmitting video from inside a burning building to his crew on the street with a handheld wireless camera. The possibilities are real, powerful and life-altering.
So what's stopping us?
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the powerful and deep-pocketed broadcasting lobby, wants to keep a stranglehold on publicly owned white spaces. NAB has been shelling Washington with misinformation and scare tactics designed to dissuade the FCC and Congress from giving the green light to new technologies and dedicating more spectrum to wireless broadband.
The lobby has been using a tired "static in my attic" routine to convince lawmakers and the public that white spaces will interfere with broadcast signals. The group has even created its own fear-mongering website, InterferenceZones.com, which says: "If these companies get their wish, you could be watching the big game, your favorite movie or breaking news when your pristine digital picture freezes, pixelates and the sound shuts off."
NAB needs to call the dogs off and let the FCC do its job. Already, the agency has shown that fixed wireless devices (on towers or buildings, for example) utilizing white space do not interfere with broadcast signals. It's only a matter of time before the NAB's interference house of cards comes crashing down.
If the FCC and Congress listen to the broadcast lobby, we will miss one of this country's greatest opportunities to close the digital divide and democratize our media.
Megan Tady is a campaign coordinator and writer for Free Press, the national, nonprofit media reform organization, and a former National Political Reporter for InTheseTimes.com.
© 2008 In These Times
16 Comments so far
Show AllIt will be a long shot to convince our corporate bought politicians that free, wireless internet for all is paramount for maintaining our democracy.
Gorsegrower posted in part: "Real participatory democracy" does not require new technology like broadband. It could have been done any time since 1964 using ordinary phone lines and a computer network for polling, and TV to show the informational process."
Anyone who believes that polling and top down communication through TV broadcast approaches participation, either does not understand the problem or does not appreciate the inherent power of the toolset that is at our fingertips... or both.
The major roadblocks to true interactivity and "one person one vote" democracy are access to network and speeds approaching real-time. Identity protection, redundancy and independent verification are also important to the next step, but those issues do not matter if we can not insure equal access and free discourse.
Polls are still "representative". TV does not allow for interaction by all participants. Those are failed tools that only restrict.
Out here in North Dakota, high speed internet is a no-show unless you live in Fargo and even their it isn't cheap. As a matter of fact, in most places, you can't even get past 28kbps ! And I have to go to a public library to access high speed internet !!
Thomas Jefferson would take back the public white space and make the corporations prove they need it and then only give it to them for "limited times" at prices that make them really appreciate it, then permanently take it back at the first recognition of a public need such as "internet for all".
In contrast, Milton Friedman would totally ignore the public interests and give the gift of all public airwaves to the capitalist beast, permanently, no questions asked. The question is will Americans support Jefferson or Friedman?
Is Nader still alive?
He sure has been invisible these last years.
Ahh well, there will be 2012 and 2016, Start Building Now!
Hey Freddie, always a delight to hear from you. That's really a fresh strategy you have there with Paul and Nader.
Did you know the election will be held in less than three months between TWO candidates?
luckylefty,
Daniel FUCKING David is nothing more than a Democrat hack. He doesn't want anyone to remember Bill Klinton's DISASTEROUS approval of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which gave rise to Faux Noise, more power to rightwing economic/religion hate talk, etc ... nor does he want you to find out about Obama's support of further extending this act. Both Mccain and Obama are both against freedom. If the author really expects wireless freedom, she should support real leaders such as Ron Paul, Ralph Nader, etc ...
Mister Chips,
Mccain or Obama, it's a win-win for the Military Industrial Complex hands down in addition to economic and religious "conservatives". They both support fast-tracking this country to DEATH.
VOTENADER.ORG !!
I'm not that literate or up to speed with technology, but I do understand that the MIC is readying to implement Internet II, which will give the fast-track to the big corporations and leave the slow-track, with heavy censorship and restrictions to the peons. I can only hope that there are enough savvy and willing subversives out there to thwart this agenda. I'd really like to see a lot more coverage concerning this threat.
The FCC presides over not just the white space, but digital TV bands. Already, the fix is in, and the folks that bring you pseudo-news stand ready to grab the priceless public property that is HDTV bands.
We need a more democratic structure than the cozy three-man political appointee non system that is the FCC. Think Colin Powell's son Michael who darn near consolidated our media into an undifferentiated blob.
Toast: "Real participatory democracy" does not require new technology like broadband. It could have been done any time since 1964 using ordinary phone lines and a computer network for polling, and TV to show the informational process.
It's the political will that's lacking; almost nobody actually favors real democracy.
Heh, luckylefty. You had a good point on first degrading the meat----to tenderize it. You're seeing it before your eyes (Obama Nation is one example), and you personally will probably be one of bystanders then wondering what happened if/when they inaugurate McCain. NAB isn't worried much about Nader or McKinney being elected, nor need they be.
Thanks for this update Megan.
Providing all Americans free or low cost high-speed broadband access is one of the last remaining roadblocks preventing real participatory democracy.
Additionally, it would provide perhaps the greatest economic stimulus this country has ever seen. The need for business travel would be replaced with easy real-time conferencing. Productivity across the board would jump. Consumer access to products and services would increase exponentially, while costs would drop as businesses shift their physical stores to online. Inventory and shipping savings realized from migration to centralized warehousing would increase bottom line profits.
Real employee productivity would climb with options to work remotely, multitask critical jobs, cut or eliminate commute times and expenses and provide real-time conferencing. Employer savings and profits would accrue across the board by having greater access to out of area talent, requiring smaller physical central offices and allow greater independent contracting and part time help.
The potential for concrete gains in our horrendous global educational standing, needs little emphasis. Knowledge banks would migrate from text to rich media. Children at all levels would be exposed to a wider, richer and more meaningful educational experience. Higher education would be redefined and made accessible to a much greater percent of the population.
This communication breakthrough would provide the foundation for a new definition of community. Connectivity would lead to a fuller and richer understanding of contribution to society on all levels.
Universal medical access costs could be slashed with the implementation of interactive real-time consultation and screening. Remote procedures would insure access to highly skilled pre-screening, diagnoses, monitoring and prognostication. Prescriptions could automatically come with communication reminders for individuals at periodic dosage times.
Crimes on individuals would fall. Emergency notification would allow for mass connectivity by law enforcement or rich media content by individuals. Severe weather reporting would reach a wider number of individuals. Home security would become much more absolute.
The entertainment industry would boom. New forms of interactivity would evolve. A greater number of individuals would create and share their works.
Government transparency would improve. Bureaucratic delays would decrease. Cost of services would level or decrease. Access to information banks would increase. Employee efficiency would increase.
Traffic monitoring would become more reliable and advisories would help reduce congestion, save time and reduce fuel waste. Mass transit would transmit exact locations at any point of route, allowing better management of resources and allowing passengers to eliminate wait time.
Energy needs would drop. Transportation requirements would plummet. Monitoring and control of environmentals would become highly efficient allowing a wide ranging conservation of resources.
That's just the start. We all need to push for this reality. There should be "use it or lose it" clauses built into any leasing of these public resources... and "USE" should be defined with "time is of the essence" terms that lead to default and rebidding of leases. We must not let these resources be stolen from us.
Heh DD, long time no smellya. Got your Dim talking points all nailed down tight? How ya doin on the FISA betrayal? Let's see, been a couple of weeks, so, I guess it wasn't a betrayal at all, like impeachment and ending the war, so we should just forget about it and shut up and get on our knees and have "faith" in another Dim who likes war and Empire and Oligarchy just fine, so you just shut up and go away and vote Dim. Heh Baby? You are predictable. Restores my faith in the banal mediocrity of learned helplessness. Yu cun guuugle the big wrds. You know, like betrayal.
Whatchagonnadoaboutit?
I'm gonna suspect that the NAB has a more sympathetic ear with John McCain than with Barack Obama going forward and suggest to all miscellaneous progressives that they read Obama Nation ASAP. Might give meaning to that "tenderizes" concept in today's second post.
As long as we have Oligarchy we got Monopoly. Monopoly like Oligarchy only does business one way: It rapes us. If technology cannot be used to rape us then it is useless to them and they murder it. Because they can. Try and file a Chapter 7 recently? Read the fine print from AT&T recently? Or perhaps with an electron microscope to read your credit card agreement or insurance documents? 6 Vultures: Energy, Transportation, Health Care, Media, Big Pharma, & Credit Cards. All of them Corporate owned along with everything else including BHO. Corporations are the mandibles of the immense spider called Oligarchy. The mandibles shred human flesh into bite-sized gobbets of human flesh to be transformed into more wealth for the Oligarchy. Before they shred the flesh, they degrade and debase it first. Tenderizes the meat. Rape is what they do because rape is how they like it. How do you like it? Whatchagonnadoaboutit?
Indeed, the time has come to empower the households to increase their productivity in managing houshold budgets with information from their neighborhoods and raise income from work that can be done via telecommuting from data entry, information editors and software development - via such broadband frequencies.
The NAB needs to take a break . We have done enough to raise their productivity ( less power required to broadcast ).
The main reason NAB is against such ubiquitous access to internet , it diminishes the reasons for advertisers to use broadcast marketing media when they can use a more efficient target marketing method.
I see a light at the end of the tunnel even though there is a big fat NAB blocking the light.