Out with the old, in with the new. The FCC seems intent on dragging the country, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.

Last Friday, the FCC order removing the requirement of Morse code proficiency from amateur radio took effect. Many old-timers had a fit, decrying the swell of idiots sure to fill the ham ranks in the wake of the ruling. More rational minds argued that the reduction of the licensure requirements to technical tests would provide a needed shot-in-the-arm to amateur radio. For my part, I went and upgraded to Extra on Saturday.

In less than a year, on February 18, 2008, cellular operators will no longer be required to operate AMPS (analog) cellular networks. The vast majority of cell phones in current service are digital, not analog, but that doesn’t mean the switch will be completely painless. Older versions of services like OnStar rely on the analog network. In order to guarantee continued operation, those services will need to upgrade. The bright side is that digital phones are much more bandwidth efficient, so in theory the change should increase the capacity of 800-MHz-band cell networks.

Speaking of the switch to digital, high-power broadcast television stations will turn off their analog transmitters by February 17, 2009. I’m not sure how the populace will respond to the switch. My initial hunch was that the transition will catch many people unawares. However, after considering it more, I now think that the transition will be fine. Three factors are driving this: this country’s obsession with the entertainment industry, the fact that cable TV operators can still use analog signals on their cables, and the plan by the government to send up to $80 to each household to subsidize digital to analog converters. Billions of dollars are going to be spent to make sure that people can still watch TV. That makes me sick. Imagine if that money were spent on something else, like, oh, say, the promotion of exercise. Have to keep the media companies happy, I suppose.

Of course, that begs the question: when will they stop selling analog televisions? I’m not sure, but I do know one thing: they will be illegal to import starting in just a couple of days. After March 1, 2007, all televisions and related products, like DVD players, that include analog tuners must also include tuners for digital broadcasts. My prediction is that the major electronics retailers will somehow turn this into a sales event.

What will be the next big change in the communications world? Will it be a wholesale switch to IPv6? What about the proliferation of fiber to the home? My money’s on ubiquitous WiFi access.