U.S. Federal Communications Commission http://www.economist.com/topics/federal-communications-commission-fcc-united-states RSS feed for topic: U.S. Federal Communications Commission en White-space wireless: The Difference Engine: Bigger than Wi-Fi http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2010/09/white-space_wireless?fsrc=rss &nbsp;HAVE you ever wondered, if you are of an age with your correspondent, about those missing channels on old television sets? Apart from channel two, the rest of the original VHF channels on the dial were usually just the odd numbers from three to 13. That was because, in over-the-air VHF broadcasting, the channel between two analogue stations had to be left unused so that it would not interfere with adjacent ones. When UHF broadcasting came along, empty “guard bands” were added to each channel for the same reason. In some places, this so-called “white space” of unused frequencies separating working channels amounted to as much as 70% of the total bandwidth available for television broadcasting.&nbsp; <div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:09:24 +0000 21011071 at http://www.economist.com Net neutrality: No, these are special puppies http://www.economist.com/node/16793506?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; Radical Britain Fly Title:&nbsp; Net neutrality Rubric:&nbsp; Google has joined Verizon in lobbying to erode net neutrality Location:&nbsp; WASHINGTON, DC TWO firms want to redefine the internet. Or so it seems, judging by the “legislative framework proposal” that Google and Verizon, an American telecoms operator, published on August 9th. Since May the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been considering reclassifying broadband internet access as a telecommunications service. Under existing law, this would give the commission the authority to enforce “net neutrality”: the principle that all data, regardless of origin, should move at the same speed. The commission last ruled on this in 2002. It heeded cable-broadband providers, who argued that, since they offered e-mail and web hosting along with their internet access, they were really selling information services, which are more lightly regulated. The Supreme Court agreed, though a dissenting justice observed that a pet store might just as logically package its puppies with leashes and then argue that it sold leashes, not puppies. Now, as the ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:39:26 +0000 16793506 at http://www.economist.com Internet neutrality: Verizon, Google and the Woody Allen problem http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2010/08/internet_neutrality?fsrc=rss WHY, exactly, does America have regulators? The idea is that regulatory agencies are better able than legislatures to keep up with innovation. Regulators, in theory, are more expert than politicians, and less passionate. In reality they are imperfect (as is all of government, and for that matter, all of life) but that we have any regulators at all is a testament, on some basic level, to the idea that companies left to their own devices don't always act in the best interests of the market.Yesterday afternoon the FCC announced that negotiations with several large companies over proposed internet-service regulatory changes had broken down. Also yesterday, the New York Times wrote of the possibility of a deal between Google and Verizon to allow Verizon to charge for faster service over its network. This would be a clear violation of the single, limited goal of the FCC's proposed changes. Let's leave aside for a second the question of just how terrible of an idea this is, and just how likely it is to throttle innovation by small actors on the web as it prioritises the work of better-capitalised companies. Let's focus instead on a more basic question: why does America have regulators?If companies always agreed with regulators' rules, there would be no need for regulators. The very point of a regulator is to do things that companies don't like, out of concern for the welfare of ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:49:15 +0000 21009345 at http://www.economist.com Tech.view: Wireless at warp speed http://www.economist.com/node/12581204?fsrc=rss Fly Title:&nbsp; Tech.view Rubric:&nbsp; White space promises to put WiFi on steroids Location:&nbsp; HOW much would you pay for unlimited access to WiFi hotspots that stretched for miles instead of a few hundred feet, provided unbroken connections even deep inside buildings, and offered broadband speeds ten times faster than today&#39;s wimpy connections found in coffee shops, hotel lobbies, airport lounges and homes? How about nothing, or next to nothing? That could be on the cards within a couple of years, thanks to a decision taken this past week by America&#39;s Federal Communications Commission (FCC). After four years of deliberations—and staunch opposition from television broadcasters, makers and users of wireless microphones, and mobile-phone companies—the federal regulators voted unanimously on November 4th to allow a new generation of wireless gizmos to access the internet using the empty airwaves (“white spaces”) between television&#39;s channels 2 to 51. The FCC could have auctioned off those frequencies—it raised $19.6 billion in March 2008 by auctioning blocks of frequencies above 700 megahertz that will be vacated when television switches from analog to digital ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:17:15 +0000 12581204 at http://www.economist.com Tech.view: Delivering the bits http://www.economist.com/node/11074015?fsrc=rss Fly Title:&nbsp; Tech.view Rubric:&nbsp; Fear not, the dumb old internet can still cope Location:&nbsp; A DOZEN years have passed since David Isenberg, then a distinguished engineer at AT&amp;T Labs, wrote his seminal essay “The Rise of the Stupid Network”. In it, he outlined how a new philosophy and architecture were changing the communications business, and pointed to some of the cataclysms ahead. Far from being a scarce resource used intermittently, Dr Isenberg argued that future networks would be “always on”, with their intelligence located in the end-user&#39;s equipment rather than within the network itself. They would make no fancy routing or traffic-management decisions; they would just “deliver the bits”. Unlike the telephone circuits of the day, which used their built-in smarts to determine where messages were to be delivered, the data would tell the network where they wanted to go. In short, the data would be boss. Uncloggable artery?Shutterstock The stupid network Dr Isenberg had in mind was, of course, the internet we know today. Central to his vision was the radical notion that end-users—or customers—would be free to do as they pleased, and the network would make ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:46:26 +0000 11074015 at http://www.economist.com Tech.view: Mile-high mobiles http://www.economist.com/node/11035676?fsrc=rss Fly Title:&nbsp; Tech.view Rubric:&nbsp; Say goodbye to that last sanctuary of silence Location:&nbsp; EVER noticed how people speak louder when using a mobile phone, even if they usually mumble on a landline or in person? It&#39;s a well-documented phenomenon. Communications experts put it down to mobiles having inadequate “side-tone”—the feedback from microphone to earphone that helps speakers subconsciously modulate their voice level. Over the years, traditional-handset makers have learned to build side-tone into landline equipment, so users can subconsciously hear how loud they are speaking—and therefore don&#39;t feel the need to yell. That&#39;s difficult with mobile phones because of their more compact design. The earphone and microphone are much closer together; failing to suppress the side-tones could easily induce that high-pitched screeching form of audio resonance (known to engineers as the “Larsen effect”). Also, because the signal is more compressed, the voice heard over a mobile sounds slightly alien. That requires the listener to do more mental processing. As a result, people tend to listen more intently and speak more forcefully. In air as on landAFP Add 60 ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:25:44 +0000 11035676 at http://www.economist.com Tech.view: Going, going, gone http://www.economist.com/node/10927854?fsrc=rss Fly Title:&nbsp; Tech.view Rubric:&nbsp; The spectrum auction’s missed opportunity Location:&nbsp; ONE of the dirtiest tricks played on American consumers is the way their country&#39;s mobile-phone companies force them to use phones sold through the companies&#39; stores, then lock them into two-year contracts with punitive cancellation fees. Asians and Europeans—who can take their mobiles from one provider to another, and use them on different networks around the world—shake their heads in amazement at Americans&#39; meek acceptance of such anti-competitive practices. So, last week&#39;s news that Verizon Wireless, America&#39;s second largest mobile carrier (after AT&amp;T), with some 66m subscribers across the country, had won the bidding for the coveted C-block of the 700-megahertz frequencies auctioned off by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has raised hopes in certain quarters. Use it anywhereAFP That&#39;s because, unlike the other swathes of the 700-megahertz spectrum being made available when the television networks switch to all-digital broadcasting next February, the C-block carries with it special “open access” provisions. Carriers using the C-block of ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:33:01 +0000 10927854 at http://www.economist.com Wireless industry: Airwaves for sale http://www.economist.com/node/10567431?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; It&#039;s rough out there Fly Title:&nbsp; Wireless industry Rubric:&nbsp; Is the last big chunk of radio spectrum worth bidding for? Location:&nbsp; LET the bidding begin. The day The Economist went to press, America's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was expected to raise the hammer on a much-awaited auction of a big slice of radio spectrum. Rarely has an auction of spectrum been so closely watched. But the excitement may not be justified. The sale is certainly more than just another spectrum auction. For one thing, the 700-megahertz band has correctly been called the last “beachfront property” in the ether: it is well suited to the sort of bandwidth-hungry services that will generate much of the wireless industry's growth. Radio waves in this part of the spectrum travel far and can pass through thick walls. And this will be the last big chunk of spectrum to be auctioned for a long while. It is being returned by TV broadcasters, which are switching to digital in February 2009. Second, the biggest block of bandwidth to be sold comes with novel conditions attached. Today a few big carriers, such ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:07:25 +0000 10567431 at http://www.economist.com Tech.view: Technology in 2008 http://www.economist.com/node/10410912?fsrc=rss Fly Title:&nbsp; Tech.view Rubric:&nbsp; Three fearless predictions Location:&nbsp; 1. Surfing will slow PEERING into Tech.view&#39;s crystal ball, the one thing we can predict with at least some certainty is that 2008 will be the year we stop taking access to the internet for granted. The internet is not about to grind to a halt, but as more and more users clamber aboard to download music, video clips and games while communicating incessantly by e-mail, chat and instant messaging, the information superhighway sometimes crawls with bumper-to-bumper traffic. The biggest road-hog remains spam (unsolicited e-mail), which accounts for 90% of traffic on the internet. Phone companies and other large ISPs (internet service providers) have tolerated it for years because it would cost too much to fix. Besides, eliminating spam would only benefit their customers, not themselves. How so? Because the big fat pipes used by ISPs operate symmetrically, with equal bandwidth for upstream and downstream traffic. But end-users have traditionally downloaded megabytes of information from the web, while uploading only kilobytes of key strokes and mouse clicks. So, when spammers dump billions of ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:24:23 +0000 10410912 at http://www.economist.com Mobile phones: From iPhone to gPhone? http://www.economist.com/node/9803924?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; Why they should stay Fly Title:&nbsp; Mobile phones Rubric:&nbsp; Silicon Valley is causing a stir in the wireless industry Location:&nbsp; san francisco JUST 74 days after launching its iPhone, Apple said this week that it had already sold 1m of the things—a milestone that its previous blockbuster product, the iPod, took almost two years to reach. Its appetite thus whetted, Apple has now cut the iPhone's price from $599 to $399 in a bold grab for the mass market. And yet, to judge by the industry's chatter, the iPhone is already old news. More excitement swirls around rumours that Google, the web-search giant that is Apple's neighbour in Silicon Valley, could enter the market with its own “gPhone”. Google's boss, Eric Schmidt, has already said that the firm plans to bid for a prime slice of American wireless spectrum in a forthcoming auction, something Apple is also said to be considering. In short, both mobile operators and handset-makers could soon be confronted with two of the world's sexiest brands as direct rivals. Publicly, Apple and Google are being diplomatic so far. The industry is a stool ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:13:27 +0000 9803924 at http://www.economist.com Lexington: Let the blowhards blow http://www.economist.com/node/9514232?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; The riddle of Iran Fly Title:&nbsp; Lexington Rubric:&nbsp; The case for keeping the airwaves unfair and unbalanced Location:&nbsp; RUSH LIMBAUGH makes an unusual martyr. He's a rich, white and often rather nasty celebrity. He has the look of a man who eats steak for breakfast. He likes to smoke huge cigars. But a martyr is exactly what he will become if some of America's most prominent politicians get their way. Richard Durbin, the Senate's second-ranking Democrat, claims that it is time to “reinstitute the fairness doctrine”, referring to a federal rule, in place in 1949-87, that guaranteed “ample play for the free and fair competition of opposing views” on the airwaves. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee in 2004, says that the fairness doctrine ought to come back. “When conservatives got rid of the equal-time requirement...they've been able to squeeze down and squeeze out” opposing views, he says. Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, says that she is looking at reinstatement. Even Trent Lott, a leading Republican, is hinting at jumping on the bandwagon. “Talk radio is running ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:58:36 +0000 9514232 at http://www.economist.com Tech.view: Tuning in http://www.economist.com/node/9314581?fsrc=rss Fly Title:&nbsp; Tech.view Rubric:&nbsp; Digital radio comes belatedly to America Location:&nbsp; WHILE Americans have been quick to dump their analogue cameras, phones, record players and other geriatric devices, they have put up with the hisses and whistles of analogue radio longer than most. Europeans, Canadians, Australians and others have enjoyed the delights of digital radio for the better part of a decade. Started back in 1987 as a project for the European Union called Eureka 147, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) has now spread around the globe. Last year more radios capable of receiving DAB were bought in Britain than conventional AM/FM receivers. London alone has over 50 commercial and BBC services beaming digital programming. Worldwide, 500m people can now tune in to digital radio. In America, it has been satellite radio, rather than local terrestrial radio, that has taken the lead digitally. But since going live in 2001-02, America&#39;s two satellite radio services, Sirius and XM, have signed up only about 15m subscribers between them. That&#39;s small beer compared with the 230m listeners who tune into AM/FM radio in America. It also falls short of even the ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Fri, 08 Jun 2007 09:29:54 +0000 9314581 at http://www.economist.com Satellite radio: They cannot be Sirius http://www.economist.com/node/8744746?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; Saving the Bush presidency Fly Title:&nbsp; Satellite radio Rubric:&nbsp; Regulators may oppose the merger of America&#039;s two satellite-radio firms Location:&nbsp; san francisco EVEN a cursory glance into a typical van pulling into the car park of an American mall reveals a bewildering amount of entertainment activity going on inside. Mum is likely to be talking on her mobile phone behind the wheel. Music will be playing from an iPod, or from a satellite or terrestrial radio station. The children in the back have their own iPods, mobile phones or games consoles, or are watching video on screens built into the seats in front. America's cars, boats and recreational vehicles are fast becoming entertainment centres that happen to move around. Now available at half price?WireImage It is therefore somewhat surprising that Kevin Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates America's telecoms and media industries, responded negatively to news this week that America's two satellite-radio companies want to merge. Sirius, based in New York, and XM, based in Washington, DC, ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 22 Feb 2007 12:25:21 +0000 8744746 at http://www.economist.com The media industry and indecency: Scrubbing the airwaves http://www.economist.com/node/4199162?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; Helping women get to the top Fly Title:&nbsp; The media industry and indecency Rubric:&nbsp; America&#039;s media firms are struggling to contain Congress&#039;s anger about indecency Location:&nbsp; MORE than any other industry, America's multi-billion-dollar entertainment business is caught in the crossfire of the country's culture war. Media firms have always had to walk a fine line between giving adults realistic shows and shielding children from sex and bad language. But thanks to the current political clout of social conservatives, TV and radio firms are under more attack than ever for allegedly corrupting America's youth. Congress is threatening to increase sharply fines for airing indecent material, and some politicians want to regulate cable and satellite TV for indecency for the first time. Over 80% of American homes subscribe either to cable or satellite TV, but only broadcast television, which is technically free, is subject to indecency regulation. The media industry fears that new rules could damage its business model. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the media industry's ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 21 Jul 2005 13:04:17 +0000 4199162 at http://www.economist.com Content regulation: An indecent proposal http://www.economist.com/node/4198412?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; Helping women get to the top Fly Title:&nbsp; Content regulation Rubric:&nbsp; America&#039;s lawmakers should scrap, not extend, rules restricting “indecency” on television Location:&nbsp; “WE FIND that the fleeting uses of the words ‘penis&#39;, ‘vaginal&#39;, ‘ass&#39;, ‘bastard&#39; and ‘bitch&#39;, uttered in the context of the programs cited in the complaints, do not render the material patently offensive under contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium.” Making decisions like this is one of the more thankless tasks of America's media regulator, the Federal Communications Commission. Since 1927 the FCC has tried to protect children from “indecency”—sexual content and swear words—on broadcast television and radio. Under pressure from social conservatives, America's politicians are now threatening to extend indecency regulation further. If they get their way, not just broadcast television and radio but cable and satellite TV, and possibly satellite radio, would be monitored by the FCC for indecency. America's media firms have been shaken by this threat (see article). Every society, ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 21 Jul 2005 13:04:16 +0000 4198412 at http://www.economist.com Internet regulation: Why a light touch is best http://www.economist.com/node/4009433?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; A song for Europe Fly Title:&nbsp; Internet regulation Rubric:&nbsp; Telecoms regulators need to treat all networks alike to ensure fair competition Location:&nbsp; WHEN she noticed her young baby had stopped breathing on March 24th, Cheryl Waller of Deltona, Florida raced to the phone and dialled 911 for emergency services. But instead of an ambulance, all she received was an empty voice message—no operator was at the number. Less than 20 minutes later her daughter Julia, 113 days old, was dead. The reason for the lack of response was that Mrs Waller's internet phone company did not provide emergency service. This tragedy occurred not because the internet is unreliable but because of regulatory confusion. The burgeoning industry of low-cost internet calling is not required to uphold classic (and often cumbersome) telecoms rules. On May 19th, America's Federal Communications Commission (FCC), moved to address the gap by requiring that voice over internet protocol (VOIP) providers also handle emergency calls (see article). It was a necessary move. The internet has grown up, and regulators must ensure ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 26 May 2005 12:22:03 +0000 4009433 at http://www.economist.com Internet telephony: Emergency measures http://www.economist.com/node/4010803?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; A song for Europe Fly Title:&nbsp; Internet telephony Rubric:&nbsp; Internet phone calls come of age Location:&nbsp; A TEENAGER was unable to call an ambulance after her parents were shot in February because the family's internet phone service did not offer access to the 911 emergency number. A baby died in March for the same reason. Sad tales such as these led America's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to vote on May 19th to require internet phone companies to offer a 911 service. In so doing, the FCC seemed to have taken its first, big step towards imposing traditional telecoms rules on the internet—a contentious move given the fears that this will strangle what many still regard as an infant industry, especially if regulators elsewhere follow suit. But are the new rules really so bad? The new rules uphold a subset of telecoms policy, social objectives, which is much less burdensome than the FCC's hugely unpopular economic regulation. Many providers of internet telephony—strictly, Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP)—have for years sought the technical ability to provide an emergency service, ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 26 May 2005 12:22:03 +0000 4010803 at http://www.economist.com Telecoms mergers: Healthy network effects http://www.economist.com/node/3941071?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; Ouch! Fly Title:&nbsp; Telecoms mergers Rubric:&nbsp; America&#039;s telecoms sector is consolidating, but that is good, not bad, for competition Location:&nbsp; IT LOOKS suspiciously like a return to the past. In 1984 a federal judge ordered the break-up of AT&amp;T, America's telephone monopoly, on antitrust grounds to inject some sorely needed competition into the country's telecoms industry. “Ma Bell”, as AT&amp;T was affectionately known, was split into a group of regional local phone firms and a long-distance company, which retained the AT&amp;T name. In recent years, a wave of mergers seem to have reversed that break-up. This week MCI, the former bankrupt WorldCom, accepted an $8.5 billion takeover bid from Verizon, a former “Baby Bell” spun out of AT&amp;T all those years ago. Verizon won control of MCI only after a long and controversial bidding battle with Qwest, the smallest of the Baby Bells (see article). This leaves America with two mammoth phone firms, Verizon and SBC—another former Baby Bell that bought the remnants of AT&amp;T in January—carving up most of the country. Have the past 21 ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 05 May 2005 12:40:55 +0000 3941071 at http://www.economist.com Communications: Telecomglomerate http://www.economist.com/node/3674005?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; Mr Bush goes to Belgium Fly Title:&nbsp; Communications Rubric:&nbsp; A new breed of telecoms firm emerges Location:&nbsp; THE telecoms business in America, as well as being built with wires and switches, has been based on imaginary divisions: between local and long-distance calls; wireless and wire-line; regional and national service; voice and internet. But recent deals by America's two biggest “Baby Bells” to buy long-distance operators have laid to rest this old, fictional industry structure. A new corporate beast is emerging: the telecomglomerate, competing across all categories of communications. On February 14th, Verizon, a large regional telecoms operator, said that it would acquire MCI, a long-distance provider, for $6.7 billion. Provided the deal goes through—some MCI shareholders still prefer a higher bid by Qwest—the combined firm will have annual revenues of over $90 billion and 250,000 employees. Along with the agreement two weeks ago by SBC, another regional Bell company, to buy AT&amp;T, it brings to a close America's long-distance phone industry. The logic behind both deals is to ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 17 Feb 2005 12:40:04 +0000 3674005 at http://www.economist.com Face value: Beyond Janet Jackson's breast http://www.economist.com/node/3576578?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; The good company Fly Title:&nbsp; Face value Rubric:&nbsp; The case for Michael Powell, America&#039;s controversial media and telecoms regulator Location:&nbsp; BY ALL rights, Michael Powell ought to be thoroughly fed up. As head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a regulator whose reach spans telecoms, media, the internet and everything in between, Mr Powell has endured one mortifying policy defeat after another. From a battle over America's media-ownership rules to a scrap about telecoms regulation, the courts, Congress, the media and even fellow Republican commissioners have taken turns sticking the knife into the FCC's soft-bellied chairman. Yet fresh from the ritzy Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Mr Powell seems as full of zest for public office as ever. Broadband internet use is spreading at “triple-digit rates”, he gushes. New sorts of digital content and communications services proliferate. Super-cheap, off-the-shelf internet phone services—called voice over internet protocol (VOIP)—are “very for real”. In short? America's digital revolution marches on. Mr Powell's critics ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 20 Jan 2005 12:32:21 +0000 3576578 at http://www.economist.com MONITOR: Plugging in, at last http://www.economist.com/node/3423074?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; Plugging in, at last Fly Title:&nbsp; MONITOR Rubric:&nbsp; Communications: After years of delay, the provision of internet access over power lines is taking off—though not for the reasons you might expect Location:&nbsp; THIS is “a banner day...a historically significant day for communications,” declared Michael Powell in mid-October. The chairman of America's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was enthusing about the prospects of a novel way for customers to receive ultra-fast broadband internet service in their homes: via the stodgy old power grid. The idea of using the power grid as a communications network—known as “broadband over power lines” (BPL) in America and “power-line communications” (PLC) in Europe—has been around for ages, but is at last being implemented. Mr Powell made his comments at a meeting where the FCC gave its formal blessing to BPL. Crucially, the agency ruled that utilities that follow certain rules (chiefly concerning radio interference) would be given a wide berth to operate as “unlicensed” entities, unencumbered by America's baffling telecoms rules. Why bother with BPL? ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 02 Dec 2004 12:27:34 +0000 3423074 at http://www.economist.com MONITOR: Last gasp of the fax machine http://www.economist.com/node/3171500?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; You&#039;re hired Fly Title:&nbsp; MONITOR Rubric:&nbsp; Office technology: That most exasperating piece of equipment, the fax machine, is on its way out. But it will take a very long time to die Location:&nbsp; Goodbye to all thatGettyImages WHO hasn't felt the urge to smash up the office fax with a hammer at least once? The machines are slow, testy and prone to breaking—usually at the worst possible moment. They became indispensable items of office life in the 1980s and 1990s, when huge rolls of paper curled from out-trays as lengthy documents arrived. (More advanced machines cut the paper, but then the individual pages ended up on the floor in random order.) Such clunkiness was nonetheless a major advance from 150 years earlier, when Alexander Bain, a Scottish inventor, patented the first fax—a device that connected two styluses using a pendulum and a telegraph wire. Thank goodness, then, that faxes are now going the way of the typewriter and carbon paper. E-mail is mostly responsible: it is easier, cheaper (especially for communicating abroad) and paperless. Whereas fax machines must be checked ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 16 Sep 2004 12:23:09 +0000 3171500 at http://www.economist.com REPORTS: Untangling ultrawideband http://www.economist.com/node/3171534?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; You&#039;re hired Fly Title:&nbsp; REPORTS Rubric:&nbsp; Consumer electronics: Which technology will prevail in the battle to banish the spaghetti behind your TV and computer? Location:&nbsp; AS ANYONE who has set up a Wi-Fi wireless computer network in their home will attest, there is something extraordinarily liberating about surfing the internet without wires. Perhaps it is because computers, unlike telephones (which went wireless, or at least cordless, a few years ago), always seem to gather a complicated tangle of cables around them. Similarly, another wireless technology, Bluetooth, is starting to do away with the cables between mobile phones and laptops. But other wires stubbornly resist replacement by wireless technology, particularly those that carry video signals—from a DVD player to a television, for example, or from a camcorder to a PC. Partly, that is because beaming video around reliably requires a higher rate of data transfer than Wi-Fi or Bluetooth can provide. Another problem is that, as wireless transmission speeds increase, so too does power consumption. Wi-Fi-enabled handheld ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 16 Sep 2004 12:23:09 +0000 3171534 at http://www.economist.com Spectrum policy: On the same wavelength http://www.economist.com/node/3084475?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; Doing business in dangerous places Fly Title:&nbsp; Spectrum policy Rubric:&nbsp; Governments and industries are bracing themselves for the possibility that radio interference will become a thing of the past Location:&nbsp; san francisco MOST people do not worry much about physics or politics when, for example, they look at the colours of a rainbow. Nor do they pause much when they use a remote control for their TV set, talk on a mobile phone, listen to the radio, cook food in their microwave oven, open their car door from a distance, or surf the internet without wires. Yet these are all phenomena of electromagnetic radiation. How humans harness electromagnetic waves—and specifically those in the radio-frequency part of the spectrum—has become so important that old and new ways of thinking are now lining up for a tense confrontation that will affect numerous businesses and billions of consumers. The old mindset, supported by over a century of technological experience and 70 years of regulatory habit, views spectrum—the range of frequencies, or wavelengths, at which electromagnetic waves vibrate—as a ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 12 Aug 2004 11:58:16 +0000 3084475 at http://www.economist.com CASE HISTORY: A brief history of Wi-Fi http://www.economist.com/node/2724397?fsrc=rss Issue:&nbsp; A dose of open source? Fly Title:&nbsp; CASE HISTORY Rubric:&nbsp; Wireless networking: Few people have a kind word to say about telecoms regulators. But the success of Wi-Fi shows what can be achieved when regulators and technologists work together Location:&nbsp; IT STANDS as perhaps the signal success of the computer industry in the last few years, a rare bright spot in a bubble-battered market: Wi-Fi, the short-range wireless broadband technology. Among geeks, it has inspired a mania unseen since the days of the internet boom. Tens of millions of Wi-Fi devices will be sold this year, including the majority of laptop computers. Analysts predict that 100m people will be using Wi-Fi by 2006. Homes, offices, colleges and schools around the world have installed Wi-Fi equipment to blanket their premises with wireless access to the internet. Wi-Fi access is available in a growing number of coffee-shops, airports and hotels too. Yet merely five years ago wireless networking was a niche technology. How did Wi-Fi get started, and become so successful, in the depths of a downturn? Wi-Fi seems even more ...<div class="og_rss_groups"></div> Thu, 10 Jun 2004 11:09:49 +0000 2724397 at http://www.economist.com