Telecommunications

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Digital TV Transition

Proponents of digital television argue that it will be beneficial to society. In addition to improved picture and sound quality, digital television will free up valuable and scarce broadcast bandwidth. This bandwidth is currently limited by analog transmissions, which require more bandwidth to broadcast than digital television will. The free bandwidth that digital television will allow can be used for public safety services, such as police or fire department radio transmissions. It can also be used to support the numerous wireless electronic devices that are being used both privately and in business.

Opponents of the transition to digital television argue that the new format could harm consumers because digital television broadcasts cannot be viewed on a television designed for the analog format. Because of this limitation, people will have to buy new equipment (i.e., televisions, antennas, etc.) when analog broadcasts are phased out in the next several years. This could hurt consumers who cannot afford the new equipment, which is more expensive than the traditional analog equipment.

Fortunately, the analog television sets will not be completely obsolete after the transition to digital television. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), current antennas will pick up digital signals just as well. The only limitation is the television itself, which will not be able to display a digital broadcast by itself. It can be made to do so, however, with the aid of a digital-to-analog converter. This converter will change the digital signal into an analog form recognizable by the analog television. The picture and sound will not have the same quality as a digital television would provide, but it will be the same as it always has under the analog format.

Cable a la carte

Cable television is a "take it or leave it" proposition. Unlike most industries in America, there are few viable competitors for consumers to turn to if fed up with their cable providers. Because pro-family consumers have few other options, they have rallied around the only option open to them—a la carte pricing. This offers consumers choice of which channels they want to pay for—nothing more, nothing less.

Related links*:

Federal Communications Commission   

National Telecommunications and Information Administration