TECHNOLOGY On Wednesday, Feb. 18, hundreds of US TV stations turned off their analog signals. Scarcely a soul noticed. The event – one that policy makers have quivered in fear of for 23 years – was a yawn.
When, in 1986, cell-phone makers and public safety agencies asked the Federal Communications Commission for a shot at using scores of idle TV channels, politically powerful TV stations quashed the idea. They hurriedly hatched a reason: extra frequencies had to be reserved for “advanced television.” America, then reeling from Japan’s emergence as a consumer electronics powerhouse, needed to develop its own cool video application and dominate the world.
