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.
Already being done: Back in 2006, I was working at the Texas Workforce Center as a supervisor. We were handing out FREE: laptops w/deluxe software, ISP service, cellphones, gas cards, bus passes, career counseling, daycare, food stamps, Section 8 rent, welfare payments and on and on...
Information flows are to be shackled, or there will be no information flows to the public.
That is the proposition.
Hmmmm
>>nationalized airwaves... communist manifesto here we come.>>
Yep, just one step closer to losing more privacy. So THIS is how they want to hook everyone into the system. This and a biochip for tracking. Watch, the clueless will applaud this as a watershed event. They’re right, but wrong on the direction.
I suppose the electric utilities will give the electricity to run it away for free, their workers will take less pay, the coal companies won’t charge the utilities for the needed coal, the miners will dig it for free, and the railroads will ship it for free.
“also stipulates that the bidder must filter out obscene content”
DOH!!!
To use this Free Wi-Fi your laptop would need a 6 foot whip antenna attached to it.
And you’d have to preface any replies with “Breaker Breaker one nine.”
Keep the shiney side up and the greasy side down...
This seems like something that government should stay out of.
Attention! Attention!
We interrupt this WiFi broadcast to test the National Emergency Network as specified by USC 12 42 part B and C.
Your THERE! Watching Porn, please report to your nearest
WiFi Monitor at once .
Etc, etc, etc.
The reporter, as with most of them, doesn’t know his buttocks from a warm rock.
Here’s the actual facts:
The FCC auctioned off a 62 Mhz-wide chunk of spectrum in the 700Mhz region recently, and generated over $20 billion in bids in aggregate, well above pre-auction estimates of how much wireless companies would bid for this post-UHF-TV use of the spectrum.
Now, sort of as a result (ie, the FCC smells money in that there ether!), the FCC is considering an auction of a 25-MHz wide chunk of the AWS-III band, which is 2155 to 2180Mhz, which would provide for wi-fi-like broadband, just in a slightly longer wavelength than the 2.4Ghz (2,400Mhz) band currently in use.
Now, for where the “free and family-friendly” nonsense comes in: there is a thoroughly dopey proposal out there in Congress, championed by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) to made the carrier winning the bid on these AWS-III brand auction to provide free, “family friendly” wireless access, with a minimum level of service of 200kB/sec download speeds.
This, of course, represents a complete fantasy on the parts of the sponsors of this goofy bill.
OK, just what is obscene content, sez who?
DOA, imho....
Umm...No.
TANSTAFFL.
Er, one too few A’s. one too many F’s.
That should be TANSTAAFL
Lefty wants free stuff!
No thanks; as much as I pay now, I’ll keep paying. It’s far cheaper than the government providing it for free.
Well put.
Thank you for clearing it up. I had already seen this on Slashdot the other day and was looking for someone to fix all the miserable reporting errors.
Now, for where the “free and family-friendly” nonsense comes in: there is a thoroughly dopey proposal out there in Congress, championed by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) to made the carrier winning the bid on these AWS-III brand auction to provide free, “family friendly” wireless access, with a minimum level of service of 200kB/sec download speeds.
This, of course, represents a complete fantasy on the parts of the sponsors of this goofy bill.
I don't think it's fantasy, and it's not without precedent. Network television is subject to decency regulations for what goes over their public airwaves, and having an advertiser-supported public digital network is a fairly similar circumstance. Also, owning that spectrum means big $$$ with zero content investment, so decency hurdles, especially since they will probably be web-only and the tech is pretty well-established, are probably barely a factor for whoever wins.
The obsession with free internet is bizarre. If someone can’t afford the $10-15 per month for basic internet service, how can they afford a laptop with wifi?
Oh, wait... Think like a liberal. Once there is free wifi, there will be a call for free computers for all the people who can’t access the free wifi.
Yes, the FCC can auction off the bandwidth, it’s what they do.
I suspect what we’re talking about free here, is similar to free TV or radio, we’d have to put up with commercials. I suspect that there is a business model that works, where every third page is a Campbell’s Soup commercial or a Personal Injury Lawyer commercial, yadda yadda yadda. Folks put up with this for over the air TV.
Who will pay for this “free” wi-fi? Undoubtedly with massive new taxes on Internet access or perhaps computers. Look at the taxes and fees tacked on to your phone bill for a sample of what is to come.
What?
More than one word?
Must be the heat ... gorebull warming, doncha'know.
Ask our ER Mod's they seem to keep a handle on things. Now a DU Mod would have everyone learning about gay porn.
Anchorage was going to wi-fi but the vendor pulled out. When they say most of the USA they usually mean except Alaska.
Ads, just like "free" network TV. You'll probably be routed through a proxy that "helpfully" places the ads in a div on the top or the right-hand side of every webpage you look at. Probably sneakily in a way that is extremely difficult to filter out.
They might partner up with Google for the ads, and you'll get yet another Google Adsense box on every page, including your online credit card bill, with each and every pageview cataloged and stored in Google's database. And Google will know everything about you.
Well, the 2.2 - 2.3 ghz frequency is so close to the 2.4 ghz that we use in our ISP that to cover even 10% of the country with usable signal will require a HUGE investment in technology and towers. Our is the latest beam forming antenna system with the customer equipment being non-line of sight - meaning it can sit inside a structure and still work. The effective range on this system is about 3 miles from the antenna. It is subject to interference from trees with leaves, building surfaces, and so on where the signal tends to bounce around.
Advertising support would require a scenario like Netzero used and ultimately did not work. The provider still has to pay for maintenance of the system and with all those towers and transmitters and antennas and customer premise equipment, not to mention technical support I can’t imagine there are enough advertisers in the US to keep it afloat.
Our system requires weekly calibration, hand holding of the customers and of course technical support when Martha’s email doesn’t work - unless of course the free service opened up the door for PAY technical support!
Somebody with WAAAAY lots of money to lose will have to bid on the spectrum - they would be better off losing their money in Vegas!
We do. And we are getting ready to do it again.
“...the bidder must filter out obscene content...”
Like Christian content!
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