> Delaying the mandatory switch is going to cost TV stations millions > of dollars as they will continue to have to double transmit. (many > have been ramping up for this and have had two transmitters running, > expensive) Also the bandwidth that the police and emergency > departments have been waiting for will not be freed up. > > So they enter in to realm many of us find ourselves in all the time. > > Damned if we do, and damned if we don't. > > Stewart
The claims that police and emergency departments need the bandwidth is bogus. Their biggest problem is having existing systems that are incompatible. The first responders all over the country and the world have shortwave. Private individuals with portable ham stations were the first to communicate during Katrina after the power went out. No electricity, no telephone, no cellular, but ham operators have portable generators, many are now solar, wind-up, or can run on almost anything.
Yet BPL [broadband over powerlines] keeps reappearing as a "desireable" broadband solution, most recently last fall with IBM. BPL interferes with shortwave. HD television won't make any difference. New frequencies won't make any difference if the only widespread technology is blocked.
No, how does this switch to HD help the population? Shouldn't the companies who will profit from the new frequencies share a considerable portion their gross profits with the people?
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