The Freedom Tower

A powerful jewel in the crown of the World Trade Center reconstruction may have lost some of its zest.
“The symbolic centerpiece of the effort to rebuild ground zero, a 408-foot spire that brings the Freedom Tower to its projected height of 1,776 feet, could be jeopardized by a new technology emerging as an alternative to the broadcast antenna planned for the inside of the spire,” The New York Sun has reported.
Broadcasting antennas have long been used to top skyscrapers throughout the world and their added height often means the difference between just another tall building in cities like New York and Chicago and structures designated among the world’s tallest. The Metropolitan Television Alliance – nearly a dozen broadcasters — had intended to install the broadcasting spire on top of the Freedom Tower but speculation over construction woes related the Freedom Tower has prompted some broadcasters to begin using other transmitters instead of a single high-powered transmitter. The new transmitters are positioned closer to street level and the organization seems to like the signals the new technology hoisted on other buildings is providing.
One member of the alliance has begun its own testing. ION Media Networks says it likes the results and the alliance has begun testing a similiar low-powered system.
Uncertainty over when the Freedom Tower antennae will be installed – in 2009 or as late ast 2012 — prompted some broadcasters to seek reliable alternative ways of transmitting their broadcasts.