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Is free antenna television going the way of the analog tube--dead and gone forever?

The answer, according to Ninth District Congressman Rick Boucher, is...it depends.

That's because there are two potential threats to the airborne way of transmitting TV signals: one from wireless companies wanting more than their share of the airwaves, the other from the broadcast networks themselves.

The number of wireless devices and "apps"--that's applications, not Apples--seems to be multiplying on a daily basis, while the spectrum of wireless frequencies is finite and precious, Boucher said in a recent interview.

Broadcast networks currently have the first priority, but that could change, he said.

Wireless companies--the makers of iPhones, iPods and iPads--are looking at frequencies used in TV broadcasts, satellite communications and federal agencies, and the nation must figure out how to use the wireless spectrum most fairly and efficiently, Boucher said.

The white-space technology that is being used to bring wireless broadband to Claudville, in the nation's first test case, is a way of using the spaces or intervals between broadcast channels, Boucher said.

"As more and more wireless applications and devices are used, white space will become only one of many ways" to answer the need for more wireless spectrum, he said.

Boucher, chairman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, said he had introduced a bill directing the Department of Commerce to inventory and study all spectrum to determine the most effective uses.

"Others say, wrongly, that the broadcast spectrum should be taken from this process," Boucher said. "Broadcast could be limited to a single channel or to no broadcast at all over the air, only available to those who have cable or satellite. I am strongly opposed to that."

While Congress and the Department of Commerce have some control over the wireless spectrum, they have virtually no control over the networks or their business practices, Boucher said.

The business model of free television has traditionally been funded through commercials, with network programming provided to local affiliates who rebroadcast it, Boucher said.

Now some networks are considering switching all programming to cable and satellite, which would be more cost-effective for the networks, but which consumers would have to pay to watch.

No network has decided to take that route at this point, Boucher said, but if one did, "Congress would be powerless to pass a law" telling private businesses how to operate. If Congress tried to force the issue, the networks could simply go out of business, he said.