Worst of the Week: Spectrum smarts

Hello!
And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
Spectrum is a funny thing. Not fall-on-the-floor-laughing funny, but more of a what-were-those-people-in-charge-of-assigning-spectrum-thinking sort of way.
The most basic question when it comes to wireless spectrum (besides: how can I get me some of that?) is whether it should be licensed or unlicensed. This decision is usually left to the Federal Communications Commission, and I say usually because intense lobbying efforts and pressure from members of Congress are significant factors that go into the decision-making process.
The arguments for and against the licensed/unlicensed decision has been made by much smarter people since the beginning of time and I will not go into those issues in this light-hearted forum. Needless to say the basic arguments break down like this: Pro-licensed side: “You’re an idiot! Pro-unlicensed side: “No, you’re an idiot!” Repeat the proceeding phrases in your head a few thousand times and you will get the history of this argument. (Funny side note to this argument. It’s the same one that goes on in the RCR Wireless News offices between one Dano, Mike and one Meyer, Dan on an almost daily basis.)
What does this have to do with the price of peppered salami? (Mmmmm, peppered salami. Is there anything that tastes as good as peppered salami? I don’t know what part of what animal it comes from, but it’s good.) Well, the FCC is currently looking at what do to with slivers of spectrum known as white spaces. These blocks of airwaves, typically a few megahertz wide and used as buffers between licensed bands, are receiving scads of attention from both pro-licensed and pro-unlicensed folks who want access to that spectrum, but obviously have differing views on how the FCC should tag those chunks. (Which, by the way, is what I usually am screaming into my headset when playing my favorite shooter video games online. TAG THOSE CHUNKS!!!!)
Supporters of a licensed approach are usually well-funded companies that feel they can acquire said spectrum in an auction and think the licensed approach is the only way to provide some accountability for any interference concerns that may involve this spectrum. These people also tend to start arguments by yelling out: you’re an idiot!
Supporters of the unlicensed approachare typically even more well funded than the licensed supporters and think that they can make even more money if they can convince the government to give spectrum away for free, convince others to make devices that work on that free spectrum and then offer services over that free spectrum and those devices that they did not pay to develop that generates money for them. In addition to being pretty smart, and rich, these supporters of unlicensed spectrum are easily drawn into endless arguments.
So, who is right in this case? Like I said earlier on, I am not nearly smart enough to really know who is right in this case and in most instances I am easily persuaded on the issue by whichever supporter I am talking with. All I do know is that someone is probably going to make a lot of money off whichever path the FCC chooses and it’s looking more and more like that person won’t be me. So, who’s the idiot now?
OK! Enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this Worst of the Week column. And now, some extras:
–Here’s a free tip to public-relation firms out there: it’s all about the headlines. For instance, this week I received an e-mail entitled: “Mobile Distillery Chooses Wavefront in Vancouver, B.C. as its Exclusive West Coast Training Facility.” Now, aside from the issues I have with all the words having their first letter capitalized, this headline got me to open and begin reading this press release. Why? Well whenever an e-mail starts out with the word “Distillery” there is a good chance a member of the media will take notice. This is also obvious by how well attended after-hour events at trade shows are attended by members of the media if there is even a hint of free alcohol.
I welcome your comments. Please send me an e-mail at dmeyer@crain.com. Or, if you prefer, leave a comment in the space below.