From TV to 4G, the lasting legacy of Heinrich Hertz

If you’ve watched TV or used your mobile phone today then you’re one of billions who owe a debt of gratitude to the work of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz.

Yesterday (February 22) was the 155th anniversary of the birth of the German physicist, who was the first to conclusively prove the existence of electromagnetic waves.

Although Hertz apparently dismissed his experiments as of ‘no use whatsoever’, the results of his pioneering work are all around us.

Without Hertz’ discovery there would be no radio, TV, mobile phones or sat-nav and WiFi.

Radio spectrum

The radio spectrum which Hertz discovered has become essential to modern economies but it is also limited in supply, which makes it highly sought after.

Ofcom is responsible for managing radio spectrum in the UK and our role is to award it in a way which secures the best use for the benefit of citizens and consumers.

For example, later this year we will oversee the auction of two prime chunks of spectrum – 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz – which will provide much needed capacity for the fourth generation (4G) of mobile technology.

4G services should make it much quicker to surf the web on your mobile – speeds will be nearer to what you currently experience with home broadband. Because of this, 4G is ideally suited for wide bandwidth data services such as video streaming, email, messenger services, GPS and mapping services and social networking sites.

Interference

Another of our spectrum roles is to keep the radio frequencies free from interference.

This year that will involve safeguarding the necessary frequencies for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Demand from wireless technologies that will help ensure the smooth running of the Games will more than double within London during the seven week event.

In preparation, Ofcom has built a spectrum assignment system that will carefully manage access to spectrum, keeping it both free for those who need it and free of interference.

We will also be deploying an especially large team of radio engineers to track down and deal with any cases of interference that do occur.

As for Heinrich Hertz, his name lives on all around us as the term used for radio and electrical frequencies – hertz (Hz).

ParentPort: Working together for media standards