A more honest, truthful article, at long last.
"He said that, having talked with broadcasters in 'his neck of the woods,' some
of that 'old technology' is 'kind of the doomsday infrastructure' when others
fail."
Yes, because it depends on far less densely-distributed infrastructure. A few
big sticks win out, compared with the Internet alternatives. Question being,
how many does a city need, just for that doomsday fallback role?
"Amodei then asked for Rosenworcel's input, after pointing out that 'especially
when you add the rural element into it, when push comes to shove, sometimes the
only thing is that old technology sitting on the mountain top that gives you
something.'"
Yes, the bigger the stick, the less need for infrastructure. As long as all you
need is what the broadcaster decides to send.
"He said while the government is spending time and money to make sure new 5G
networks are as bulletproof as possible, at the end of the day they might not
be, and there was that other, he said he didn't want to call them 'rabbit
ears,' technology."
Even at the beginning of the day, 5G won't be bullet proof. How can it be, when
all the innovation it touts requires a super dense mesh of microcells? So, for
those emergencies, and within the limitations of one-way broadcast, rabbit ear
technology has its place. After all, there is a reason why rabbit ear
technology was the first one adopted, for radio and TV. This wasn't by accident.
One-way broadcast needs no IP overhead. Even for individualized streams, just
use a few subchannels instead. The user can choose what subchannel is the most
relevant to his location.
Bert
---------------------------------------------
https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/fcc-pressed-on-protecting-broadcasting-as-critical-infrastructure
FCC Pressed on Protecting Broadcasting as Critical Infrastructure
Rep. Amodei said 'old school' tech is 'doomsday infrastructure.'
John Eggerton Apr 5, 2019
WASHINGTON-Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) had broadcasters' back at a Hill hearing
this week, with an assist from commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.
During questioning at a House Appropriations Financial Services and General
Government Subcommittee hearing on the FCC's budget, and after much talk from
legislators as well as FCC chair Ajit Pai and commissioner Rosenworcel about
the importance of 5G-freeing up spectrum, streamlining tower citing-Amodei
shifted to a related topic.
He said that, having talked with broadcasters in "his neck of the woods," some
of that "old technology" is "kind of the doomsday infrastructure" when others
fail.
He said while the government is spending time and money to make sure new 5G
networks are as bulletproof as possible," at the end of the day they might not
be, and there was that other, he said he didn't want to call them "rabbit
ears," technology.
He said he planned to follow up with the FCC on what it was doing for that
other, "doomsday" infrastructure.
Amodei said that online has great possibilities for both good and evil, but
given that it was a constant target, "was there any thought [at the FCC] about
saying, 'hey, wait a minute, if that goes down, we can still switch over to
those folks that we took care of when we were repacking so that, if we have to,
we can turn on the radio or tune to the emergency broadcast network 'old
style.'"
He asked if the FCC was looking at that. Pai said "certainly we are. We share
that concern," then talked about coordinating with other agencies on network
security.
Amodei then asked for Rosenworcel's input, after pointing out that "especially
when you add the rural element into it, when push comes to shove, sometimes the
only thing is that old technology sitting on the mountain top that gives you
something."
Rosenworcel could have been channeling the National Association of Broadcasters
(except NAB would likely argue that with ATSC 3.0, broadcasting is both old and
new tech): "When we have fires in Northern California and floods in Nebraska
and Hurricane Sandy, we do have to remember that most people turn to their
broadcasters to learn what's going on," she said.
"And when the power goes out," she added, "your phones are hard to charge. We
have to be mindful that a radio with batteries may feel awfully old school, but
it may be one of the most important things we have around."
Rosenworcel said the FCC had to make sure it protects such "old school" but
vital technology.
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