The following came to me by way of a mailing list:

As expected, President George W. Bush yesterday signed budget-reconciliation legislation that includes a firm date for TV broadcasters to clear 700 MHz spectrum and $1.2 billion in funding earmarked for public-safety communications.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 216-214 to approve the budget package, which requires broadcasters to clear the 700 MHz airwaves on Feb. 17, 2009, after which 24 MHz of frequencies will be allocated nationwide to public safety. Other airwaves in the band will be auctioned to commercial operators in a bidding process expected to generate $10 billion in additional revenue for the government. Under previous law, broadcasters tentatively were targeted to clear the 700 MHz band by the end of this year, but they were not required to do so until 85% of all U.S. television sets could receive digital signals—a threshold that could take decades to reach, according to many analysts.

This has been a long time in coming.  Many had hoped that the legislature would wait until technology had caught up to current demand, but unfortunately there was no such luck.  Fortunately, the bill gives three years for technology to catch up, and become affordable.  Unfortunately, we all know that won’t necessarily happen.

I can tell you this.  Cable companies will be rejoicing, as it is currently cheaper to sign up for digital cable (which converts to be viewable on analog televisions), than it is to purchase a digital-capable television - or even converter.  Cable companies are much more capable of changing their reception frequency for broadcast television.  For those unfamiliar with how this works, cable companies receive television broadcasts via either satellite, or large antenna arrays.  Then, the signal is either converted for analog distribution immediately, or it is sent down the wires to digital converters at the customers’ homes, where the signal is converted into analog for display.

The e-mail goes on to say:

Some public-safety officials previously had expressed hope that first responders might receive more than the 24 MHz of airwave earmarked, but enacting the budget measure effectively ends such discussion, said Harlin McEwen, chairman of the International Association of Chiefs of Police communications and technology committee. “All the spectrum that is not going to public safety is ready to be auctioned, so it is highly unlikely [that more frequencies would be dedicated to public safety],” McEwen said. In addition to allocating spectrum to public safety, the law creates a $1 billion grant program to pay for public-safety interoperable communications systems, $156 million for national alert and tsunami warning systems and $43.5 million to help fund E-911 upgrades as called for in the Enhance 911 Act passed in 2004. Most of the $10 billion in expected auction proceeds will be used to reduce budget deficits and to fund a program designed to provide people with analog TV sets low-cost converters that will let them receive digital broadcasts.

I have to chuckle at the last line.  I have my doubts that we will ever see widespread distribution of those “low-cost converters.”

Was this a good move by the Bush administration?  That depends on who you ask.  Television companies would likely say that they knew such an event was coming, but expected the date to be further in the future.  Public safety organizations - particularly first-response organizations - will agree that this is a very, very good thing.  The general public - especially when forced to purchase a digital television, subscribe to digital cable, or purchase a supposedly “low-priced” converter - will likely disagree.  Personally?  This has been a long time in coming.  It is a good move, as we do need some frequency rebanding to support first responders and public safety; but it will cause a lot of friction and issue in the coming years.  Look for late 2008 and early 2009 to be the time period that sees sudden leaps in “affordable” television technology.  Look for March 2009, indefinitely forward, to be the time period for gross price elevation of television technology.

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