Commentary by Bill Evans
WASHINGTON — FOH has been at the forefront of fighting the white space battle with the FCC for almost two years. We received word that the Federal Communications Commission followed the money and voted to allow technology companies like Google, Microsoft, Dell and Motorola to produce consumer devices that will use radio frequency (RF) spectrum now being used by wireless microphone systems. The decision comes despite objections from FCC engineers and the 100% failure rate of prototype devices in “real world” tests.
They did throw the industry a bone or two. According to USA Today, use of these yet-to-be-produced wireless consumer devices will be prohibited near television broadcast facilities or major entertainment venues. Smaller operators can request “safe-zone” treatment, but we’ll see how far that goes.
This ruling has not been unexpected. The issue has been framed inaccurately by people like FCC chief Kevin “Weasel-Boy” Martin, while phony “consumer groups” are acting as shills for Google and the telecommunications lobby have chimed in. They claim this is about expanding the availability of broadband Internet service to rural and lower income areas of the country. (Sounds a lot like how “expanding the availability” of home mortgages to people who could never hope to repay them laid the foundation for the sub-prime loan debacle of the last few months.)
A lot of work and money went into making sure the public saw it that way. Google started a huge campaign called “Free the Airwaves,” and even interest groups including FreePress.net called on their troops to support the expected FCC action. (Fun fact: When FOH Publisher Terry Lowe received an e-mail blast from FreePress.net campaign director Timothy Karr, he wrote back trying to explain how important this issue was to the live entertainment industry and Karr’s response to his own people was, “Please no one respond to this.”) Yes, boys and girls, the fix was in.
What is this really about? The tech companies who actually make stuff like Dell and Motorola don’t care a lot about broadband access for lower income and rural Americans. Most of that demographic does not have the money to buy the new devices they want to build. And the audio industry has never had a problem with fixed installation of broadband transmitters in rural and low-income areas. If they are fixed, we know where they are and can avoid them. This is more about a new generation of handheld computing/communication devices akin to the iPhone or Blackberry, but operating in spectrum that they don’t have to pay for. We call this “putting a charitable face on a grab for mo’ money.” Or maybe even “Putting lipstick on a pig.”
For Google and Microsoft, it is all about advancing the idea of “ubiquitous computing.” Search has become the Holy Grail for Microsoft as they lose ground to Google and the company that once ran under the mantra “Don’t Be Evil” has invested more money than any of us want to think about on server and storage “farms” and already provides computing and storage for many of the leading photo and social networking sites online. The more people are tethered to their “personal communication devices” the more potential they have to sell that capacity and the advertising that goes with it.
On the FCC side, keep this in mind. Commissioners like Mr. Martin are political appointees. This means following the election they all become part of a lame-duck administration and as such their clout is gone. Everyone from the NFL to Dolly Parton, from mega-church pastors to Guns N’ Roses and from Hillary Clinton to the companies that run entertainment up and down the Vegas strip, have asked Martin and his fellow weasels to hold off. No one even knows what these new devices will be able to do. I guess Goggle and Microsoft just might have use for an unemployed FCC weasel on their own staffs. Just watch.
So what does it all mean? Well first, if you own any wireless gear operating in the 700-mHz range it may well become useless come Feb. That entire spectrum has already been auctioned off for other uses. Every mfg will be different and none that we know of has been selling gear in this range since that spectrum was sold. But check with your vendors and find out if they are going to have some kind of program in place to absorb at least some of the blow of replacing fairly new wireless gear. And no matter how good a deal it is on eBay, don’t buy anything in this spectrum. Period.
The rest of the spectrum? No one really knows right now. Sabine makes a unit that operates in the 2.4 gHz range that should not be affected and X2’s digital wireless along with Audio Technica’s ultra-wideband technology point to some possible future tech fixes but none of those by themselves are the answer to the entire problem.
“While not unexpected, today’s FCC decision will greatly complicate the lives of wireless microphone users across the United States and negatively affect tens of millions of Americans listening to live and broadcast events,” said Mark Brunner, Shure senior director of Global Public and Industry Relations. Brunner is among many who have worked tirelessly on this issue for several years. And now they — and our entire industry — have lost. The future is not entirely clear, but be prepared for interference from lots of stupid and worthless text messages to start hitting your wireless mics and ears in the near future.
