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But if you have the transmitters, "linear radio" (ie radio) is cheap and green. You can add as many users as you like at no extra cost. Streaming internet deli

by scholia 12y ago

But if you have the transmitters, "linear radio" (ie radio) is cheap and green. You can add as many users as you like at no extra cost. Streaming internet delivery, by contrast, consumes finite and expensive mobile phone bandwidth. And if you're listening to "linear radio" as distinct from a service like Pandora, consumes bandwidth to absolutely zero benefit.

mikeash 12y ago
FM radio also consumes finite and expensive bandwidth. The difference is that it consumes it at 100% utilization 24/7, rather than using it intelligently. The reason there's no extra cost as you add users is simply because you're paying the full cost for all potential users from day one. Even consuming "linear radio" over a data connection has a substantial benefit over something like FM broadcast, namely that you can support far more variety in the same area. FM is limited to, what, a few dozen channels in a single urban area? Maybe a couple hundred if you add HD radio? Streaming over a data connection can support hundreds of thousands of different stations, instead of forcing people to choose from twenty examples of the least common denominator.
- scholia 12y ago
  What else are you going to use the VHF band for? There's no current demand to re-use the FM spectrum, and smartphones etc are in the UHF spectrum. Even if you could do something useful with the spectrum, it would still be a problem because FM is a global standard and isn't going away any time soon.... The UK has no plans for the FM frequencies except to keep using them for FM broadcasting. The difference is that, after the switchover, they'll be local instead of national FM radio stations. There's also close-to-zero demand for large numbers of radio stations (most people only listen to two or three), and such "variety" is inordinately expensive. Broadcast is never going to compete with Spotify, Pandora etc for personalized radio.

by scholia 12y ago

mikeash 12y ago

FM radio also consumes finite and expensive bandwidth. The difference is that it consumes it at 100% utilization 24/7, rather than using it intelligently. The reason there's no extra cost as you add users is simply because you're paying the full cost for all potential users from day one. Even consuming "linear radio" over a data connection has a substantial benefit over something like FM broadcast, namely that you can support far more variety in the same area. FM is limited to, what, a few dozen channels in a single urban area? Maybe a couple hundred if you add HD radio? Streaming over a data connection can support hundreds of thousands of different stations, instead of forcing people to choose from twenty examples of the least common denominator.

scholia 12y ago
What else are you going to use the VHF band for? There's no current demand to re-use the FM spectrum, and smartphones etc are in the UHF spectrum. Even if you could do something useful with the spectrum, it would still be a problem because FM is a global standard and isn't going away any time soon.... The UK has no plans for the FM frequencies except to keep using them for FM broadcasting. The difference is that, after the switchover, they'll be local instead of national FM radio stations. There's also close-to-zero demand for large numbers of radio stations (most people only listen to two or three), and such "variety" is inordinately expensive. Broadcast is never going to compete with Spotify, Pandora etc for personalized radio.