Yes, perhaps, but US TV has given up that 800 MHz spectrum eons ago, in the 1980s. And the 700 MHz spectrum too. Man, what a circus act this has become. All the hand-wringing. Bert ------------------------------- http://www.rethink-wireless.com/article.asp?article_id=2101 EU and US want more TV spectrum for wireless By CAROLINE GABRIEL Published: 4 November, 2009 This week has seen further developments on both sides of the Atlantic in the repurposing of broadcast TV spectrum. The European Union has recently moved towards making its position, that these bands should be used entirely for mobile broadband, official, and information commissioner Viviane Reding wants to speed up the process again. And in the US, the FCC is proposing schemes to address the spectrum shortage by freeing up TV spectrum for broadband. Reding is encouraging all EU member states to up the pace of digital TV roll-out and complete the transition to digital TV by the start of 2012, to free up the spectrum for wireless broadband roll-outs. The EU sees the digital dividend band, in 790 MHz to 862MHz, as a key method of meeting its target of offering broadband coverage to all citizens by 2013. However, the TV industry is concerned about potential interference with set-top box or cable modem services. Laboratory tests carried out for trade body Cable Europe claim interference from LTE could be enough to knock out TV signals. This prompted Reding to call for broadcasters to vacate the band as soon as possible. "I urge national authorities to use the digital dividend in a pro-competitive way to open up the market for new operators and new services, maximizing the impact on the economy," she said. "Only this will ensure the digital dividend is used to bring wireless broadband to parts of the EU where high speed internet cannot be provided efficiently by other technologies." In the US, the FCC is trying to formulate its own universal national broadband plan, and considering taking spectrum from broadcasters and re-auctioning it for mobile services. "The record is very clear that we're facing a looming spectrum gap," Blair Levin, who is heading up the FCC's broadband program, told The Wall Street Journal. He said the FCC is "looking at everything, including broadcasting spectrum". The National Association of Broadcasters will oppose such plans, and has already said new spectrum must be freed up in ways that will not restrict consumers' access to digital TV. Broadcasters moved in June from analog to digital TV from analog to free up 700MHz spectrum for wireless use. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.