Here's what is going down right now: The FCC is auctioning off the bandwidth that here-to-fore has been known as UHF television. These "channels" won't be needed for broadcasts when, in one short year from now, all over-the-air TV converts to digital (i.e. free over-the-air HDTV).
Who's buying? It's a silent auction. But reports come out daily. The wireless carriers are kicking each other and Google in the teeth to win the rights to operate this portion of the "broadcast" spectrum.
What's it mean for consumers? What was once known as UHF television becomes over-the-"air" programming on your mobile phone.
So, in one short year from right about now (well, Feb 17, 2009 to be exact), all "three screens" will be ready for prime time.
And how exactly are we supposed to run advertising on that?
The 700 MHz spectrum was previously used for analog TVs, specifically UHF channels 52 through 69. The FCC has ruled that the impending switch to digital television means that these frequencies are no longer necessary for broadcasters, due to the high spectral efficiency of digital broadcasts [1]. Thus, all broadcasters will be required to move to channels 2 through 51 as part of the digital TV transition.700 MHz wireless spectrum auction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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