Thursday, January 10, 2013

"Since its inception radio communication has been plagued by a shortage of space for ever-increasing numbers of stations and new services"

--- Radio spectrum conservation; a program of conservation based on present uses and future needs. A report of the Joint Technical Advisory Committee, IRE-RTMA. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1952. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005756597, quoted (slightly tweaked) by Ed Richards in his speech "Spectrum in an age of innovation", 29 November 2011

Quote in context, the opening lines of the Preface of the report:
The subject of this volume is one of far-reaching importance to society at large. Since its inception radio communication has been plagued by a shortage of space for ever-increasing numbers of stations and new services, from ship-to-shore “wireless” in 1902 to television in 1952. As new regions of the radio spectrum have been explored and opened to practical operations, commerce and industry have found more than enough new uses to crowd them.