by Susan J. Campbell

Created on: December 29, 2008

It is interesting to hear the amount of chatter surrounding the debate over digital television. Whether or not consumers believe they should be forced into the digital realm, the reality is that the FCC has already dictated that this will happen. What is unfortunate is that too many consumers do not understand why this change is necessary, only that it is coming.

By initiating a switch to digital television throughout the United States, the FCC is actually creating a significant amount of white space that can be used by residents and businesses alike to conduct a full range of communications and technologies - many of which have yet to be invented. This move will ultimately improve the way we communicate, enjoy entertainment, manage our networks and so much more.

The use of this newly open space will also trigger a boom in investment, job creation and consumer demand in the high-tech sector. Companies such as Dell, Google, IBM and others are closely watching this change and are working hard to be first-to-market with new technologies, advancements on current platforms and information. As the U.S. enters a new year in a struggling economy, this area of technology can hold significant promise.

According to the Technology CEO Council (TCC), American citizens and students will benefit from connecting to the longer range, wireless services that will become possible through the white space spectrum. Consumers as a whole stand to gain from increasing market-based competition among service providers and infrastructure builders. In order to ensure optimal promise for the consumer, education within this space of technology is essential.

As consumers on this side of the issue, it is very easy to assume that this move is a result of a push from electronics manufacturers seeking to push television sets. It can also be assumed that companies such as Dell and Google are behind the move to open up more opportunity for their own initiatives. True, each of these sectors and companies stand to gain significant benefit from this change, but not exclusively.

Consider the move like this: if you can get better quality viewing while also gaining access to technologies that were never before available and there is no significant cost to you, why would you not support the move to digital conversion? On the technology side, digital viewing can be provided using a fraction of the space that analog televisions use today. It is all about space and how we can maximize it to our benefit. We thought the digital age was already here, yet there is so much more to come.

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