In February 2009 TV broadcasters will be forced to disable analog TV broadcasting. Thus freeing up the spectrum for other uses. This is a huge deal seeing that these wireless frequencies are very powerful. Analog TV signals are capable of going great distances and they will penetrate walls very well. Now that we know that the spectrum is going to be freed up in early 2009 it is time to speculate on what it can be used for.
The first major thought is for a new wireless phone technology. If we take these frequencies and use them for cell phones there will be a need for fewer towers. It would be ideal for a provider to get this entire spectrum. The issue is if only one provider is using this space it will require a special phone to work on this spectrum. They could easily produce these phones, but every phone on the market today would not be capable of this. Most imported phones will not work with this either.
Another idea would be to create a data network. This could easily be a wonderful solution for people who are still on dialup. The speeds will not be all that great, around 500kbps. This is far superior to dialup, but still rather slow. Now if this was used in a data network for mobile devices it would be a great solution. You could get those data speeds while in some of the most remote places in the country.
Another option would be for a large private TV company to purchase the spectrum and use it for their network. The odds of a company doing this is rather slim seeing that the price is more than it would be to start up a satellite provider.
Google has stated that they will be bidding on the wireless signals. The question here is what will they be using it for? Could they just be doing it for an investment, like they did with buying dark fiber? I do not see the company using it for phone service as so many people are guessing. Google is a data company and if they are going to create anything telephony it will be over a data network; i.e. VoIP.
If a company, like Google, were to create a wireless VoIP network it would completely change the world of wireless phones. Not only would it do wonders to the quality of calls, but they could change how billing works. Once you are on a data network the amount of time on the phone does not matter nearly as much. You could provide unlimited talk time for nearly free. A completely unlimited mobile phone for only a monthly fee. Knowing Google they would not charge anything and just make it ad supported. Just think about having a phone that is free any only supported by ads; simply awe inspiring.
As with everyone right now, the only thing we can do is speculate. The auction for the spectrum is still months away and the bandwidth being freed up is over a year away. That means it will be at least two or three years before we see anything valuable out of this. I would expect to see the bandwidth put to its full use in five years from now. That is about how long it takes to create a new device on a brand new frequency, test it, get FCC approval, and then produce it. It is kind of disappointing to know its going to be years before we see anything, but in time comes wonderful things.
I am wondering why the companies are also doing away with analog over whatever medium they are using (coax for example). Is the government pushing to do away with analog so they can make ALOT of money to bid these spectrums out or are the broadband and cell phone companies pushing for this, or both?
Billy
It is the FCC pushing to remove the analog signals. The reason is you can fit something like 6 digital channels in a single analog frequency.
The only people affected by this change are the ones who receive over the air TV. If you have a cable box or use satellite then you have nothing to worry about.