Link: Tech Firms Push to Use TV Airwaves for Internet - washingtonpost.com.
With the switch to digital transmission of new television signals mandated by Congress and the FCC in just a couple of years, various forces are jockeying into position to recover the bandwidth left behind by traditional television broadcasters.
So here's the irony - since the technology was born - we have received television for free. (Obviously, cable added options for which we pay.) And - since the technology was born - we have paid for Internet access.
Now, television content - the creative programming and related televisions content products are moving to cable and to IPTV - Internet Protocol Television. And since the advertising market is confused and not so supportive of changes with unknown consequences - viewers are increasingly going to be asked to pay for what has traditionally been free.
And, since technology has opened the digital pathway for delivery of traditional television content, the old broadcast channels are going to be open - and less crowded. And major vendors are seeking ways to deliver the Internet over those open public airwaves - in a model that could easily be free.
What a switch - free television and paid Internet evolves to pay television and free Internet. Like the old word puzzles - how many steps does it take to get from FREE to PAID back to FREE again?
(-- originally posted by Rich Bowers, Coordinator, Ohio IT Clearinghouse)