Posted on 06/02/2008 1:43:36 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
As the FCC auctions off an unused spectrum of airwaves, the winner may be forced to provide free wireless internet for most of the country. No date or terms for the auction have been set, but the government's deal requires that free service on the 25 MHz spectrum reaches at least half the in five years and 95 percent within ten years. The agreement, proposed by FCC chairman Kevin Martin, also stipulates that the bidder must filter out obscene content for allowing the winner to use the remaining portion of the spectrum for commercial purposes.
"We're hoping there will be increased interest in the proposal; and because this will provide wireless broadband services to more Americans, it is certainly something we want to see," said FCC spokesman Rob Kenny.
CTIA, the principal trade group for wireless companies, is unenthusiastic about the proposal, taking issue with the provision that the service must be free. Prior to this proposal, there has been little interest in this portion of the spectrum, as wireless carriers preferred the 700MHz airwaves auctioned a few months ago.
A startup company called M2Z previously asked to use the airwaves for free, providing free wireless with a content filter and garnering revenue from advertising that would be shared with the government. The FCC turned M2Z down, saying the company needed to bid against other carriers, but Martin's proposal is very similar. The next step is a June 12th meeting where more details are expected to be hammered out. [Source: AP Business and Yahoo! News]
..ok, I second the motion..
nationalized airwaves... communist manifesto here we come.
Everything FREE in Amerika!............
Sounds like a good idea, but I guess that I’m curious what happens when we all start to use the free superhighway and then the rules change?
I guess that you could say that I don’t trust the government.
Good luck with that.......
Does this mean I won’t have to buy coffee from STARBUCKS whenever I use their free wifi??
Wicked! (sarcasm)
Ain’t no such thing as “free”. :)
ping
OK, I have to admit, just for a nanosecond, I thought “free wi fi, most excellent!” Of course I immediately realized what “free” and “government” in the same sentence really means.
No thanks; as much as I pay now, I’ll keep paying. It’s far cheaper than the government providing it for free.
They mean “free” like public school is “free”.
Yeah, I was initially seduced, too. It does sound “nice”.
But then how will I get my hate speech here at FR? ;-) </sarc>
If the reporter has the frequency right, 25mhz is subject to a lot of interference. It’s just below the CB channels and picks up a lot of atmospheric skip, static and noise. It also requires a sizable antenna. This hardly ideal for WiFi.
Other than it won't work, and it's the government, and they are wasting my money... I don't have any problems with them proving how stupid they are.
/johnny
Does this mean no one will have to pay for any type of internet access if they are willing to settle for Wi-Fi? I don’t think Comcast or the ISP’s are going to like this. If so, won’t this give the Govt a LOT of control over the net?
why not throw in free cell phones and laptops
i wish washington would focus on doing what the constitution said they should do and leave this stuff to capitalism
Not being familiar with the FCC regs, can the FCC legally do this?
Seems like the least the FCC should be required to do is go through the rule making process which includes putting out a request for public comment.
I would think that this kind of thing would require legislation.
Free, huh? And I’m certain that there’ll be many potential buyers wanting to obtain this bandwidth so that they can then give it away. Who keeps hiring these commies in the federal government?
So to make it a little more clear for the less informed.
To use this Free Wi-Fi your laptop would need a 6 foot whip antenna attached to it.
It would take you about 2 hours to down load a 5 minute video because all of the radio interference would cause errors in the data transfer.
It may be free but it would make dial-up look great.
Think of the "fairness doctrine" on steroids. All the free speech that the government lets you have.
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