[BC] Looks like we got snookered!

[DANA PUOPOLO]

Check this out:

http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20051230-083814-1294r

If I recall, a slice of this spectrum was the VERY place where Eureka DAB was
to have gone. Hmmm...I'm wondering why the space wasn't available when
broadcasters wanted it (Seems the Pentagon needed it to test missles), but
when the cellular industry wants it: *POOF!!* there it is!

Of did Ibiquity, the NAB and the "status quo" broadcasters get their way A la'
lobbying?

I find it interesting that the ONLY people who GET DIGITAL RADIO SLOTS are the
ones that already own analog ones. Wasn't the original purpose of DAB to:
"Level the playing field"? I guess having a few consolidators owning most of
the good stations is level enough for the FCC and Congress. 

Well, it looks like the broadcasters (and their short term greed) just shot
themselves in the foot - AGAIN!

See, one of the things the cellular industry is going to DO with this new
spectrum is deliver CONTENT (remember that word in earlier discussions?) to
the public.  Guess who's going to get short shrift as a result?

The Broadcasters......

I learned a moral a long time ago. It said: "Be careful of what you wish for,
because it might come true". The Consolidators and NAB wished for Ibiquity and
that's EXACTLY what they got - a crappy, neutered DAB system - but the
cellular industry gets the last laugh here, because THEY got (the) 45 mHz of
spectrum that the consolidators and NAB gave up - to compete against them!

Along with another 45 Mhz in the 2.1 gig band....

-D