Tuesday, August 07, 2007
A Third Pipe Status Report: August 7, 2007
This long time blog is being highjacked for use a single information exchange site involving the transition of media from corporate based ("we will tell you what we want you to know and believe") to something closer approaching end user ideal ("I am tired as hell and won't take it anymore.")
We begin with some basic information about an upcoming FCC auction for frequencies in the unused broadcast television channel spectrum. It will be used to create what is being referred to as the Third Pipe; if the right people win (like Google). The other Two Pipes (broadcast and cable/satellite) have only created money machines; "licence to print money" commercialisms. This has created a political environment that is upside down; the money is the thing, the truth is spun to whatever whim necessary to maintain this environment, and there remains few, if any, means for messages to flow unfettered in face of the Patriot Act.
We then move to some of the jargon definitions needed to understand the material being published on a cornucopia of industry and consumer web sites. We end this post with development in the local area most influential to this writer.
The emerging world of WiFi (and WiMAX later) offer a means to decentralization of information. This is an inevitability as the broadcast world is coming to realize the impact of the Internet apon their influence and ability to generate audience. Audience should come as result of popular reaction to form and format. Today journalism and popular entertainment has degenerated to habit, mediocrities, and a time warp of political correctness. With decentralization, word of mouth will build audience; as Truth again becomes the motivator of political action.
Below are a few of the things needed to understand curent development of WiFi (and later WiMAX) video narrowcasting.
From the FCC:
The 700 MHz Band spectrum, which runs from 698-806 MHz, currently is occupied by television broadcasters and will be made available for other wireless services, including public safety and commercial services, as a result of the digital television (DTV) transition. The Digital Television and Public Safety Act of 2005 (DTV Act) set a firm deadline of February 17, 2009, for the completion of the DTV transition. The DTV Act also requires the FCC to commence an auction of the previously unauctioned commercial spectrum in the 700 MHz Band no later than January 28, 2008.
In implementing Congress’ directive to reallocate the airwaves, the Commission is focused on serving the public interest and the American people. The service rules the Commission adopts today help create a national broadband network for public safety that will address the interoperability problems of today’s system, provide for a more open wireless platform that will facilitate innovation and investment, and facilitate the emergence of next generation wireless broadband services in both urban and rural areas.
Today’s Order establishes a framework for a 700 MHz Public Safety/Private Partnership between the licensee for one of the commercial spectrum blocks and the licensee for the public safety broadband spectrum. As part of the Partnership, the commercial licensee will build out a nationwide, interoperable broadband network for the use of public safety. This network will facilitate effective communications among first responders not just in emergencies, but as part of cooperative communications plans that will enable first responders from different disciplines, such as police and fire departments, and jurisdictions to work together in emergency preparedness and response. Under the Partnership, the Public Safety Broadband Licensee will have priority access to the commercial spectrum in times of emergency, and the commercial licensee will have preemptible, secondary access to the public safety broadband spectrum. Many national and local public safety organizations have expressed support for a public safety/private partnership approach. Providing for shared infrastructure will help achieve significant cost efficiencies while maximizing public safety’s access to interoperable broadband spectrum.
In order to promote broadband competition and the development of innovative wireless services for consumers, today’s Order also makes several changes to the rules governing the commercial services portion of the 700 MHz Band. Most notably, the FCC determined that licensees for one of the spectrum blocks to be auctioned – the large, 22-megahertz Upper 700 MHz C Block – will be required to provide a platform that is more open to devices and applications. These licensees will be required to allow customers, device manufacturers, third-party application developers, and others to use any device or application of their choice on their networks in this band, subject to certain conditions. The FCC also adopted several changes to the 700 MHz band plan, the build-out requirements for licensees, and the auction procedures, as described below.
700 MHz Band Plan
• Under the new band plan, 62 megahertz of spectrum, divided into five spectrum blocks, will be auctioned for commercial uses.
• The commercial spectrum will be made available at auction in a mix of geographic area sizes, including Cellular Market Areas (CMAs), Economic Areas (EAs), and Regional Economic Area Groupings (REAGs).
• The 10-megahertz Upper D Block will be licensed on a nationwide basis and will become part of a 700 MHz Public Safety/Private Partnership.
• Within the 24 megahertz of public safety spectrum, the public safety wideband spectrum is being redesignated for broadband use to allow for nationwide interoperable broadband communications by public safety users.
• The public safety broadband spectrum is placed in a 10-megahertz block at the bottom of this band and the existing public safety narrowband spectrum is consolidated in a 12-megahertz block at the top of the band. Internal guard bands are placed in between the broadband and narrowband segments.
• There will be a single, nationwide license for the public safety broadband spectrum, assigned to a Public Safety Broadband Licensee, which will work with the adjacent commercial D Block licensee as part of the 700 MHz Public Safety/Private Partnership.
• The Public Safety Band is shifted by downward by one megahertz from 764-776/794-806 MHz to 763-775/793-805 MHz in order to protect public safety narrowband operations in the Canadian border areas.
• To accommodate the shift in the Public Safety Band, the Guard Band A Block is being relocated to a new location between the Upper C and D Blocks, and, to further protect the public safety narrowband operations from potential interference, the Guard Band B Block is being placed above the narrowband block at the top of the 700 MHz Band.
Public Safety/Private Partnership
• The Upper D Block commercial licensee and the Public Safety Broadband Licensee will form a Public Safety/Private Partnership to develop a shared, nationwide interoperable network for both commercial and public safety users.
• The terms of the Partnership will be governed both by FCC rules and by the details of the Network Sharing Agreement (NSA) to be negotiated by the Upper D Block commercial licensee and the Public Safety Broadband Licensee. The NSA is subject to FCC approval, and must contain certain provisions such as service fees and a detailed build-out schedule for the network.
Performance Requirements for Commercial Spectrum
• New, more stringent performance requirements were adopted for commercial licenses that have not yet been auctioned in order to promote better access to spectrum and the provision of service, especially in rural areas.
• For licenses based on CMAs and EAs, licensees are required to provide service sufficient to cover at least 35 percent of the geographic area of their license within four years, and 70 percent of this area by the end of the license term.
• For licenses based on REAGs, licensees must provide service sufficient to cover at least 40 percent of the population of their license area within four years, and 75 percent of the population of the license area by the end of the license term.
• If licensees fail to meet the four-year, interim geographic or population benchmark, the license term will be reduced from ten to eight years, thus requiring these licensees to meet the end-of-term benchmark at an accelerated schedule. Interim reporting requirements have also been adopted to ensure that build out is timely.
• If licensees fail to meet the end-of-term buildout requirements, the FCC will automatically reclaim the unserved portions of the license area and make them available to other potential users.
Open Platform
• The licensees of the Upper 700 MHz Band C Block of spectrum will be required to provide a platform that is more open to devices and applications. This would allow consumers to use the handset of their choice and download and use the applications of their choice in this spectrum block, subject to certain reasonable network management conditions that allow the licensee to protect the network from harm.
Auction Procedures
• In the upcoming 700 MHz auction, the FCC will use "anonymous" bidding procedures, in which any information that may indicate specific applicants’ interests in the auction, including their license selections and bidding activity, is withheld until after the close of the auction. These procedures will be used irrespective of any pre-auction measurement of likely competition in the auction.
• The FCC will use "package bidding" procedures when auctioning the 12 licenses in the Upper 700 MHz Band C Block in order to assist bidders that are seeking to create a nationwide footprint.
• The Order directs the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau to establish reserve prices for the upcoming 700 MHz Band auction.
Action by the Commission on July 31, 2007, by Second Report and Order (FCC 07-132). Chairman Martin, with Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, Tate approving in part/concurring in part, McDowell approving in part/dissenting in part. Separate statements issued by Chairman Martin and Commissioners Copps, Adelstein, Tate, and McDowell.
For additional information on the commercial services portion of the 700 MHz Band, contact Paul D’Ari at (202) 418-1550 or Paul.Dari@fcc.gov. For additional information on the public safety portion of the 700 MHz Band, contact Jeff Cohen at (202) 418-0799 or Jeff.Cohen@fcc.gov. For additional information on the 700 MHz Guard Bands, contact Paul Moon at (202) 418-1793 or Paul.Moon@fcc.gov.
WT Docket Nos. 06-150, 01-309, 03-264, 06-169, and 96-86
CC Docket No. 94-102
PS Docket No. 06-229
Some Definitions and Links
Also known as 802.11, AirPort and wireless LAN, Wi-Fi is a wireless network connection that uses a high-bandwidth radio transceiver to tap into networks at speeds of 11 mbps to more than 100 mbps, up to 350 feet from a base station. Wi-Fi cards most commonly found in laptops have the specifications 802.11a, b, and g. These three standards tap into different frequencies and allow for varying bandwidths. Most new cards can work with multiple standards.
WiMAX technology, also known as 802.16, will hit the market in 2005 and will function as a wireless alternative to cable modems and DSL. WiMAX plans to offer wireless connectivity up to 30 miles from an antenna at speeds of up to 75 mbps, cable modems bring in data at just over 1 mbps. WiMax, which carriers can use to wirelessly deliver broadband, will include the 802.16 standard, plus revisions and additions.
Simply known as a "cable replacement" technology, Bluetooth is a radio-frequency standard that functions as a personal-area network (PAN). It replaces cable-based connections, like USBs, with short-range wireless connections. The technology can be applied between desktops and notebook computers, handhelds, PDAs, mobile phones, camera phones, headphones, printers, digital cameras, headsets, keyboards and computer mice.
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a digital television service is delivered by using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection. A general definition of IPTV is television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.
For residential users, IPTV is often provided in conjunction with Video on Demand and may be bundled with Internet services such as Web access and VoIP. The commercial bundling of IPTV, VoIP and Internet access is referred to as "Triple Play" service. IPTV is typically supplied by a service provider using a closed network infrastructure. This closed network approach is in competition with the delivery of TV content over the public Internet, called Internet Television. In businesses, IPTV may be used to deliver television content over corporate LANs.
Triple play is a term used to describe the delivery of voice, video and data services to the home. Adding mobility is called Quadruple Play.
STB is set top box.
More definitions and Anachronisms (mostly Cell Phone stuff):
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) gather, combine and analyze different layers of information about an area on Earth.
Personal communication service (PCS) is a second-generation mobile communications technology also referred to as digital cellular. The digital service, which works over CDMA, GSM and TDMA interfaces, operates at the 1900 MHz frequency range and can be used internationally.
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a digital wireless service that transfers data at rates from 40 to 144 Kbps. Unlike GSM, which assigns a specific frequency to each user, CDMA allows every channel to use the full available spectrum, allowing greater capacity and higher audio quality for more users.
Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system funded and controlled by the U.S. Department of Defense that is available to the public. It processes satellite signals in a GPS receiver to very accurately compute position, velocity and time. GPS works in all weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to use GPS.
Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is a digital wireless service that divides a radio frequency into time slots and then allocates the slots to multiple calls, allowing a single frequency to support multiple, simultaneous data channels.
Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) uses TMDA technology to provide cell phone voice communication, messaging, digital two-way radio and data transfers.
Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) is a high-speed wireless data connection on a CDMA network. The technology allows users to access high-speed Internet through portable devices, such as cell phones, laptops and PDAs.
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a digital cellular system that uses TDMA, which allows a single frequency to support multiple, simultaneous data channels.
Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE) is a faster GSM wireless service that can deliver data at rates up to 384 Kbps on a broadband. The standard is based on the GSM standard and uses TDMA.
3G is an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) specification for the third-generation mobile communications technology that was created for high-speed transfer of data and multimedia content, such as video, downloads, music and interactive games. 3G aims to increase bandwidth up to 384 Kbps when a device is stationary or moving at pedestrian speed, 128 Kbps in a car, and 2 Mbps in fixed applications. 3G will work over wireless air interfaces, such as GSM, TDMA, and CDMA. The new EDGE service was developed specifically to meet the bandwidth needs of 3G.
Currently in development, 802.20 promises all the benefits of WiMAX 802.16, but it will be optimized for broadband wireless access while traveling at high speeds.
CSD: Download speed: up to 9.6 & 14.4 Kbps, Upload speed: up to 9.6 & 14.4 Kbps
WLAN 802.11g speed: up to 54 Mbps
WLAN 802.11b speed: up to 11 Mbps
And Now Something Completely Different:
There is already a Reno citywide wireless network built by SkyPilot Network Inc. and run by Hot Spot Broadband.
...in the Reno-Tahoe area through Hot Spot, an offshoot of electrical contractor Garry Gomes' J.A.G. Wire Electric Inc. The ease of installation and operation, the reliability and the low cost sold him on the system. He expects to be offering phone service within two months. "I'm getting 4.5 megs consistently."
...in the Reno-Tahoe area through Hot Spot, an offshoot of electrical contractor Garry Gomes' J.A.G. Wire Electric Inc. The ease of installation and operation, the reliability and the low cost sold him on the system. He expects to be offering phone service within two months. "I'm getting 4.5 megs consistently."
Readers are encouraged to do Google searchs on any term used here to expand their personal knowledge.
Labels: Informational
