[opendtv] Re: TV Technology: FCC Pressed on Protecting Broadcasting as Critical Infrastructure
- From: "Craig Birkmaier" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "brewmastercraig" for DMARC)
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2019 06:27:01 -0400
On Apr 8, 2019, at 11:05 PM, Manfredi (US), Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, because it depends on far less densely-distributed infrastructure. A few
big sticks win out, compared with the Internet alternatives. Question being,
how many does a city need, just for that doomsday fallback role?
ZERO?
One?
Truth is that we can cover the entire country with only a handful of “high
power” AM radio stations and VHF stations. But forget TV, as it is mostly
useless when the power is out.
And we could develop a nationwide emergency network via satellite that could be
received almost everywhere. My truck gets emergency update info via satellite
today.
But the right way to look at this problem is NOT to consider the doomsday
scenario, but rather the understand what is working today and well supported by
public use of the infrastructure.Z Radio is ubiquitous and used by almost
everyone in the U.S., while OTA TV is being used in far less than 50% of U.S.
homes.
When we have a hurricane here in Gainesville, the MOST USEFUL resource is our
local talk radio station, that goes into 24/7 “doomsday mode.” They provide
updates about everything, often for more than a week after the storm. Note that
we have had power and cable outages in some areas for more than a week after a
major storm.
The article was also disingenuous about some other realities. Charging cell
phones is hardly a major issue, even if the power is off. Just plug it into
your car. And then there is the reality that many homes now have generators for
emergency backup - FEMA has paid for tens of thousands of them here in Florida.
Yes, the bigger the stick, the less need for infrastructure. As long as all
you need is what the broadcaster decides to send.
The article also ignores the reality that 5G is NOT going to replace the
existing cellular infrastructure, which has the ability to provide service over
large areas at lower frequencies, like in the bands RECOVERED from
broadcasters.
I have never lost cellular service here in Gainesville during hurricanes. In
fact, after we lost power and cable during the last storm, I turned on the
generator and streamed the Ocala TV station on my phone (via DirecTV Now), and
watched it on the big screen TV.
Me thinks these folks in Washington need to wake up to reality...
like the reality that government regulation and management of our
communications infrastructures caused more harm than good in the last century,
delaying the introduction of many new technologies, and forcing us to pay
monopoly prices - and local, state and Federal taxes. - for critical services.
Only AFTER deregulation have we seen the benefits of competition, especially
with respect to the cellular infrastructure.
Even at the beginning of the day, 5G won't be bullet proof. How can it be,
when all the innovation it touts requires a super dense mesh of microcells?
So, for those emergencies, and within the limitations of one-way broadcast,
rabbit ear technology has its place. After all, there is a reason why rabbit
ear technology was the first one adopted, for radio and TV. This wasn't by
accident.
Correct. It was by ECONOMIC NECESSITY.
Broadcasting was the cheapest way to reach the masses. Those telephone wires
barely provided decent voice service - although Alexander Graham Bell thought
he was inventing an entertainment medium, not a personal communications
network.
I would also remind Bert and the author, that there was no broadcast TV for the
masses until the ‘50s, yet we managed to deal with many doomsday scenarios,
including World War II.
One-way broadcast needs no IP overhead. Even for individualized streams, just
use a few subchannels instead. The user can choose what subchannel is the
most relevant to his location.
One way broadcast needs hundreds of millions of devices that can receive the
signals Bert. Today the only infrastructures that do that are radio and
cellular phones.
It’s time to shut down broadcast TV and the FCC - relics of a bygone era.
Regards
Craig
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