Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
WORKING PAPER SECTION 9 IMPLICATIONS OF A DBS-A SYSTEM-SERVICE FOR THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY-VOICE OF AMERICA This section addresses the more important political, cultural, operational, financial, and economic implications of U.S. and VOA support for a worldwide DBS-A common-user system-service to be provided and used by the wor1d's audio broadcasting community. Political The United States could work with other countries and various multinational radio communications entities (i.e., Inte~sat, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, and Arabsat) to rationalize and improve the whole field of worldwide audio broadcasting and to see it made available on a low-cost, equitable basis to all countries regardless of their political persuasion, financial circumstances, or geographical location. Such an undertaking would be a particularly benign and generally useful exploitation of U.S. civilian space technological know-how. It would also exhibit U.S. leadership in space so that all the world could benefit. It would essentially eliminate an international political problem area, the dimensions and intensity of which otherwise will continue to grow: the congestion of the HE shortwave bands used for worldwide audio broadcasting and the consequent disruption of this broadcasting. It would make conservative use of the electromagnetic spectrum. It would be designed so it would not cause interference to other services, including any ongoing HE shortwave audio broadcasting. And it could share geostationary orbit locations with other communications and other space-related services and activities, thereby conserving this unusual natural resource. It would reduce the cost, and increase the operational effectiveness, of audio broadcasting for more than lOO countries throughout the world. Proceeding to help with the organization and development of a DBS-A system-service would be a truly useful objective response to any international criticism directed toward the United States as it employs higher radiated power, and more frequencies and sites, in the VOA and BIB-RFE/~L HE modernization and expansion programs. This is a response that could also be made by any other country engaged in expanding its shortwave system. Initially some countries might not wish to avail themselves of a worldwide ensemble of regional DBS-A services. This should not hinder a move by the bulk of the world's countries to see the services come into being, for the following reasons: - 63 - WORKING PAPER
WORKING PAPER l. All countries would retain their ability to conduct shortwave broadcasting. 2. No government would be required to employ the DBS-A service. 3. All general populations need not have receivers that would enable them to receive signals broadcast by the DBS-A system-service. The fact that the DBS-A system-service would have broad appeal and support and would be used by scores of countries should provide its assets and operations with a great deal of physical, political, and financial security. Even if agreement cannot be reached initially on a system to serve the entire world, a few, large, regional systems could be established. One might serve all of the countries of North, Central, and South America, for instance. Encouragement for the creation of a DBS-A system-service would allow the U.S. government to demonstrate, further, its support for the exploitation of the civilian space area "for the betterment of all mankind" (and in a way that could be of personal interest to the present President, i.e., audio broadcasting--an activity with which he continues to be personally and publicly associated). The use of geostationary satellites in a common-user common-carrier, type of system-service also should ease the concern of all countries, perhaps especially developing countries, that they might not have useful access to geostationary "slots." Po] itical/Cultural Public Law 95-426 calls upon the USIA to "...enhance understanding on the part of the tU.S.] government ...of the history, culture, attitudes, perceptions, and aspirations of others." A global DBS-A service would allow every government in the world, on an equitable and low-cost basis, to broadcast directly to the United States. Such broadcasts would increase the likelihood that our elected and appointed government officials and other national leaders would become more aware of, and better informed about, the interests of these governments. At a minimums they would learn what these governments want them to know and appreciate. The U.S. general public would also have a broadened, inexpensive, and easy opportunity to learn more about the interests and activities of other countries, and to be stimulated and entertained by audio programs originating from all over the world. Other countries, in turn, could profit by learning of the response by the U.S. general public to their programs. In general, opportunities for maintaining the cultural diversity of the world would be enhanced to the enrichment of all of us. - 64 - WORKI NO PAP ER
WORKING PAPER Operational The reliability, quality, and clarity of signals broadcast by a DBS-A system would be unexceptionabJe--certain~y as fine as local AM and FM over-the-air broadcasting signa~s--and the service could be designed to reach at least 99.9 percent of the world's population in a flexible and selective manner. The characteristics of the DBS-A service and its cost would allow the VOA and any other nation's broadcasting entity to reach out to new geographical regions and to national, religious, cultural, and ethnic groups beyond its ability to reach, satisfactorily, by using a surface-based, HE, shortwave audio capability alone. The VOA, the State Department, and their analogues in more than lOO countries would be relieved of the increasingly onerous burden of dealing with shortwave broadcasting frequency allocation and interference problems. Beginning perhaps a decade from now, the VOA may no longer have to be concerned with providing technical and administrative personnel, facilities, power sources, etc., and physical protection for a large overseas broadcasting operation--perhaps none of it or only that part of it needed to broadcast at HE and ME to countries that decide not to receive DBS-A service broadcasts. In the meantime, considering all of the complexities and uncertainties facing the creation of a globe] DBS-A system-service and the additional years required to gain listener acceptance and to effect a change-over of the world's receiver stock, the VOA and RFE/RL must continue to concentrate on their HE shortwave modernization and expansion programs, the results of which are long and sorely needed. The Armed Forces Radio and Television Network could be another important U.S. user of a DBS-A service. Financial It appears that the VOA could broadcast to audiences via a DBS-A system-service at a cost lO times less than it costs to broadcast via surfaced-based, HE shortwave--and with greatly increased audience coverage, and sharply increased signal reliability and quality. The financial burden of providing audio broadcasting also would be similarly lessened for any other country using DBS-A services. The amortization and O&M costs incurred by the VOA after its modernization and expansion plans are completed could approximate 5200 million per year. Beginning a decade from now, for example, that fraction of a worldwide DBS-A service that the VOA would need to lease could be priced at $10 to 20 million per year, and could be phased in as worldwide DBS-A receiver populations grow. The net reduction in cost to the VOA (and - 65 - WORKING PAPER
WORKING PAPER perhaps RFE/RL) would depend upon how much surface-based HE shortwave audio broadcasting effort would have to be continued, but it should well exceed $] OO mi ~ ~ i on per year. The VOA budget could then begin to focus upon funds for leased services. In general, it is somewhat less difficult to gain acceptance by the OMB and the Congress for annual leased service charges than it is for long-term capital investment funds. Economi c If an agreement were reached that made interconnected regional DBS-A services available, wholly new space-related, high-technology, commercial-industrial businesses would be created. The entire system-service could be financed, acquired, and operated by pri vate i nterests. UeS. industry would be in a good position to compete to provide the space-segments of the system (as much as a $500 million globe] market) and to compete to provide a large portion of the surface segment (an initial recei ver rep] acement market of $] O bi ~ ~ ion, and $l hi ~ ~ i on/year thereafter). This space-related market could begin to develop when the use of Sideband, fibre optic, surface cable offers serious competition to the use of space for long-haul trunk communications services. Once space is seen to be useful for providing excellent audio broadcasting services directly to individually retained spacewave receivers, there could be interest in the provision of national (domestic) audio DBS-A services as well to a market commensurate with the size of the worldwide market. There is also the prospect that there would be substantial private commercial, as well as government, use of a DBS-A service. Over the long term the prospect of seeing DBS-video services made available on a global basis could also be encouraged by the acceptance and success of DBS-audio services. * * * * * * * * N.B. While this section views the prospects for DBS-A specifically from the the U.S. perspective, it should be appreciated that worldwide audio broadcasting, by its very nature, is of important interest to the entire world. Therefore, the world's community of audio broadcasters should be encouraged to give careful consideration to the great potential offered by this use of space, a use that promises important political, economic, social, and cultural benefits to all people. - 66 - WORKING PAPER
