GOVERNMENTS hoping to earn a fast buck by switching off analogue television
transmitters and selling the frequencies to cellphone operators are in for a
shock. Even if viewers can be persuaded to switch to digital TV, the frequencies
released will be too widely spaced to be of practical use to cellphone and
wireless Internet companies, according to a report released by Britain’s
Independent Television Commission.
To be viable, cellphones and future wireless Internet access devices will
need to be mass-produced. This means they must operate on a relatively narrow
band of frequencies to make their tuning circuits affordable. “The released…
