Technology Daily

August 12, 2005
 
Public Advocate Candidate Pushes City Wi-Fi Proposal
by Drew Clark

     New York City could strengthen city services, promote economic development and narrow the gap between rich and poor with a low-cost wireless network like Philadelphia's, a candidate for the office of New York public advocate argues.
     Andrew Raseij has attracted considerable support among the authors of Web logs -- and received a glowing profile last week by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman -- for promoting city spending on an $80 million Wi-Fi wireless network.
     It would be a "huge economic development opportunity," Raseij said, adding that cities should "recognize wireless as a simple way to improve the efficiency of city services." He said firefighters and emergency medical technicians could download information, like building blueprints, as they race to their destinations.
     Commuters might be able to use the network to learn when subways or buses are scheduled to arrive. Small businesses could access the high-speed Internet through the network "in some portions of the city" where they currently cannot, Raseij said in a July interview in Washington.
     New York schoolchildren, some of whom have been given free laptops, could get more than one hour per week of Internet time, Raseij said. He ridiculed the $400 million proposal to build a stadium for the New York Jets, as well as an $85 million contract for technical support by the public school system. Both compare unfavorably to his Wi-Fi proposal, he said.
     Raseij is an underdog in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary. Current advocate Betsy Gotbaum, whose office was designed to help citizens navigate the New York bureaucracy, is a Democrat seeking re-election.
     Gotbaum campaign spokesman Hank Sheinkopf called the Wi-Fi proposal "a wonderful idea, but the city can't pay for it. The private sector ought to pay for it. That is not the public advocate's job: to wire up the city."
     Sheinkopf said Gotbaum has helped citizens solve their problems with city bureaucracies and is seeking re-election on her ability to respond to their complaints.
     He said Raseij's focus on Wi-Fi is "a clever campaign activity by a candidate whose last run was as a nightclub operator and someone involved in the entertainment business." He said he does not expect a close contest "based upon Betsy's record of performance."
     Speaking about whether incumbent telecommunications and cable companies are likely to oppose his plan, Raseij said: "There is no reason why a city shouldn't make its [wireless] infrastructure available for a competitive bid. I agree that we should be careful when municipalities are trying to get into business."
     But he cited the historic role of municipalities in water, sewage and electricity, and said broadband is "the de facto electricity" of the information age. "Internet access is starting to become so essential" to all aspects of city life, commerce and police protection, he said.
     Spectrum expert J. H. Snider of the New America Foundation said municipal wireless projects complement good homeland security.

 

July 28, 2005

Germantown Courier
Will you be ready when HDTV arrives?
By:JOSHUA BUONO

 
 
In recent years, digital technology has flooded the world of consumer electronics. DVDs are phasing out VHS movies, traditional cameras are being replaced with digital ones, and soon, High Definition Televisions (HDTV) will take the place of today's analogue TV sets.

HDTV sales have been on the rise and are expected to keep climbing, in part because of a recent announcement made by U.S. television broadcasters. They have recently accepted a 2009 deadline to switch from broadcasting analogue television signals to airing only higher-quality digital signals.

"We needed a date," says Megan Pollock, communication manager of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). "Our organization doesn't take a stance on a specific day, but certainty is important."
High Definition programming will offer viewers enhanced picture quality - including a greater range of colors and tones versus traditional analogue signals - as well as CD quality sound. The most noticeable improvement in HDTV over analogue, however will be the dimensions in which programming is displayed.

Whereas analogue TV displays are 4 units wide by 3 units tall,
HDTVs will show programming that is 16 units wide by 9 units tall - nearly mimicking the dimensions of a typical movie theater screen.
"It will be beautiful," says Pollock. "From an entertainment perspective, HDTV couldn't be any better."

Receiving the new digital signal however, requires that each TV in the country have a means of accepting it, which is something that today's analogue TV sets are incapable of doing by themselves. This does not mean however, that consumers will be forced to purchase a new HDTV set that is capable of accepting the new signal if they want to watch TV.

Analogue to digital converter boxes, or "set-top-boxes" are already available so that older analogue TVs can accept digital signals and show digital programming. Any HD programming shown on an analogue TV however will lack the benefits in sound and picture quality normally offered on an HDTV set. Also programs viewed via converter will be shown in letterbox, enabling the 16 by 9 image to fit the 4 by 3 dimensions of the analogue screen.
A recent survey conducted by the CEA found that only 12 per cent of Americans - those receiving the signal "over-the-airwaves" - would require a set-top-box, however. The 87 per cent of consumers who receive their television via satellite or cable connection will be able to pick up the digital signal from boxes supplied by their TV service providers.

Also, those who purchase an HDTV set with built in reception capabilities for the digital signal will not need a "set-top-box". Consumers should contact the maker of their television, and provide the company with the model number of the TV if they are unsure of their televisions reception capabilities.  According to Pollock, set-top-boxes are estimated to cost around $50 by 2009. Congress is considering a subsidy program to help pay for the boxes. The source of funding for the program has not been decided; tax revenues and the auctioning off of the old analogue spectrum are two ideas that have been proposed and considered.

"It's a tragedy that [the broadcast spectrum] is still used this way," says J.H. Snider, of New Americas' Wireless Future Program, and author of the book "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick: How Local TV Broadcasters Exercise Political Power."
"It's disgraceful that Congress has allowed this terrible use [of the spectrum] to continue for so long. The faster [the transition from analogue to digital] can happen, the sooner the U.S. can benefit."
Snider went on to explain that currently, only a handful of the 67 broadcast channels are currently being used. Once the analogue spectrum no longer supports television, some of its frequencies will be set aside to improve emergency services and increase homeland security.

Other frequencies will be auctioned off to bidders such as the Wireless Future Program, who want to
use the newly available frequencies to support many unlicensed wireless services ranging from garage door openers to state-of-the-art broadband devices such as Bluetooth.
According to Snider, the decision of exactly what should be done with the old spectrum has been difficult for lawmakers and other parties involved, as the language surrounding the issue is very technical and tends to decreases the quality of the discussion.
"The major electronics companies are ready for the switch," says Pollock. "And Congress is doing a great job exploring the issue by making it a priority. Also, judging by the recent sales of digital products, consumers are showing their interest as well."