Date: October 24th, 1995 Subject: Overview of the FCC & American Communication By: Shockwave -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FCC stands for Federal Communications Commission, an organization created in 1934 to regulate the growing radio rage. In it's early years, it's primary activity was assigning a specific frequency to each station in an area. Today, it has evolved to regulate nearly every form of electronic communication from radio to television to telephones to computers. Every time you turn arround, big brother is watching. A first step in understanding the fcc is understanding how it does what it does. This file is about the ways it relates to the electronic communication industry. Radio Spectrums Everyone's AM/FM radio has a spectrum from which you can tune in. This is the same spectrum all broadcasters have to abide by. Here is a list of the accepted spectrums for radio band width and their respective frequency: name m/khz range LW (khz) 150-350 AM (khz) 540-1600 MB (mhz) 1.6-4 SW2 (mhz) 3.7-9 (short wave) SW1 (mhz) 9-22 ( "" ) FM (mhz) 88-108 AIR (mzh) 108-136 POL (mzh) 148-174 (police) Kzh stands for Kilohertz (thousands of cycles per second) Mzh stands for Megahertz (millions of cycles per second) Television The American standard for televion is called NTSC. It uses two variations in broadcast frequencies: VHF - Very High Frequncy UHF - Ultra High Frequncy Notes: The main European standard for television is called PAL. (There are others, such as CSCAN in France, but in the time I spent living away, it was most likely phased out). The reason for mentioning this is that the PAL system was standardized in the 40's -- long after NTSC. The difference, disregarding the obvious frequency alteration, is a slower-updating picture with much finer resulotion. This could serve as a model for what is achievable with the concept of HDTV, or "High Definition" TV. Needless to say, HDTV will be far higher quality (The dimensions of the screen are even changed to make it wider; more like a movie screen), but the high res and fast update will take up ALL of normal television's range + dive into what I believe was diagrammed as police radio (poor guys) in the graphic I saw. Free Speech The First Admendment is supposed to proctect our right to free speech, but this is clearly contridicted in the Radio Act of 1934, which states that no person shall broadcast _offensive_ material. With it's vague representation of what can't be broadcast and the contridictory admendment, many were charged in court, but few were convicted of wrong doing. There is no way of getting arround the regulation of TV or radio freq's, however. One would think that in the land of the free, a man with the will and way to set up a broadcasting station could: but this is exactly why the FCC was formed. It may be disturbing to some to know that they can't just set up and do that, but in thinking about all the Americans with somethin to say, and the shortage of air space, the radio regulation is undoubtably justified. I've heard of pirate radio stations geting busted and operators charged with hundred s of thousands of dollars worth of violations (they actually count BY THE DAY). I remember one reference to a University of Washington student (or someone affiliated with UW) openly running his microtower FM ministation, which hardly broadcast intensly) was charged $2000 a day. Telephones The first regular telephone exchange was founded in 1978, in New Haven, Conneticut. it was called the Bell Phone Company, which later took the form of the American Telephone and Telegraph company -- AT&T. In 1899, the government sanctioned AT&T, making it BOTH a utility and a profit making company; ie. a monopoly. Since phones were justly considered a neccessity and not a luxury, AT&T took the liberty to provide phones for everyone...at a price. They were the one company that controlled everything. It was against the law to manufacture a phone/answering machine and use it with AT&T's equipement. The government felt that telecommunications should be regulated by the same company that regulated television and radio. So, in 1934 the Communications Act set forth by the FCC persued the goal of "wiring the world" under its control. Phone Companies The image of today's local phone companies is very poor. They are all put in charge of more than they can handle. Being regarded as a utility, the FCC can a Co. for not providing decent service. USWest, the primary phone co. in charge of the northwestern U.S., has been fined and sued and stepped on a lot since it's introduction of the third area code in Washington. This new AC encircled the greater populated regions of Seattle and the Eastside and broke down the segregation between what was considered in-state LD even further. For such a minute population, not being able to call sometimes outside a 30 mile radius raises questions of fairness. Changing to the alternate Company (GTE, which is available to many people who live in USWest area) doesn't solve this problem. Companies, like Boeing, Microsoft, Digital, and Symantech, to name a few, have filed and won multi-million dollar lawsuits dealing with the unexpected alter- ation of calling areas. Reference & Glossary of Terms AC - Area Code. AT&T - American Telephone & Telegraph - Our first National phone company. BELL - Initial phone company, aptly named after Graham Bell. FCC - Federal Communications Commision NBC - National Broadcasting Company NSC - National Security Council (now reformed as: NSA) NTSC - American Standard for Television PAL - European standard for Television UHF - Ultrahigh Frequency NYNEX - The first major breakoff company ("Baby Bell") Located in New York. USWEST - The breakoff company that mostly governs Northwestern U.S. VHF - Very High Frequency Notes Most of this information was collected through magazine/newspaper articles. This file was written for educational purposes. To contact the author, call our home system at 206-747-1194. October 24th, 1995 [eof]