Monday, November 03, 2008
Broadway Begs FCC: "Please Don't Take Away Our Horrid Head Mics!"
The Clyde Fitch Report: "Actors wear wireless microphones that transmit on frequencies soon to be compromised by consumer devices. Without publishing proposed rules and allowing public discourse, the FCC, pressured by leading technology firms, will vote on this issue on November 4, 2008: Election Day. The FCC’s own engineers’ report demonstrates that the technology in place to prevent interference is ineffective."
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5 comments:
I believe that larger corporations getting involved in the white space of radio frequency’s can be a good thing in the long term. As it stands now there are a few companies that produce products for these frequencies. These companies are relatively small compared to the personal communication companies that want to use the same radio waves. Large companies have more resources to develop new products that can use the white space more efficiently. With more research and development going on in this area of technology better products that are more diverse will appear in the market. This can be beneficial to the entertainment industry. The sticky part is allowing larger investors to use and develop these technologies with out abusing the people and organizations that already use them. If a plan is made to share the same space while development is taking place it can greatly benefit everyone. All concerned parties need to sit down with the FCC before any further decisions are made.
Let's first just say that I don't know a lot about the science behind this issue. That said, I feel that permitting other users to broadcast on the same frequencies as wireless mics without proper enforcement would be horrible for the live entertainment industry. Because so many of our shows and performances take place in high population areas, like NYC, LA, and Las Vegas, there should be some way to keep a certain number of frequencies clear for the use of the entertainment industry since they are such an integral part of our profession.
Everyone should, if possible, share the frequencies and work together.
Whether it's a small amount of companies that produce in "white spaces" or a small amount of products that would actually be capable of acting here, the fact of the matter is that WIRELESS MICROPHONES WILL NO LONGER BE ISOLATED. That is so ridiculous. Who is to say that the minute this act is initiated, there won't be more products that are released to operate in white spaces. And there's no way that somebody is going to tell me that with the little use of other products, theatres won't be affected in large urban areas. Last time I checked, large urban areas are the places in which the most complicated systems are installed.
As I unterstand it, we in the theatre industry have no more right to these frequencies than anyone else. I don't believe we get radio licenses for each of our transmitters like terrestrial radio or ham radio users do. As nice as it would be for policy to yield a good answer, the bottom line is that spectrum/bandwidth is a precious commodity and we can't keep up with our current use without paying for it. I think ultimately this is a market force that's going to push us to innovate for less bandwidth-intensive technologies, and encourage the wireless industry to think more towards the future.
Technology is going to have to do something to keep up. While no one is given the right to certain frequencies, it is nice that theatre has gotten so many for so long. Bringing in new technology to combat this problem of too few fequency is probably a decent idea in correcting the problem besides it taking a really long time. Hopefully all of this gets sorted out and that actors will still have their beloved head mics!
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