Free Broadband In The Future?
Next week the Federal Communications Commission will be publicly presenting the National Broadband Plan to Congress. In their presentation, the FCC will ask Congress to “consider use of spectrum for a free or very low cost wireless broadband service”. The FCC gave no specific details for this request. Many speculate this request could be a simple approach to garner aide for the poor and disadvantaged, allowing them access to Broadband that they would not otherwise have.
The last administration attempted to gain support through a similar proposal by then FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin. The Martin proposal endorsed the auction of a nation wide license in the 2,155-MHz to 2,180-MHz band that called for the winning bidder to set aside 25% of the band for free Internet access. Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Rep. Henry Waxman opposed the proposal which was later withdrawn.
This proposal has gained support in recent weeks from M2Z Networks, who have pledged to provide access on the order of 512 kbps to 95% of Americans within 10 years of winning the spectrum. The former head of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, now the CEO of M2Z Networks, John Muleta, has accumulated letters of support from many lawmakers and others interested with this proposal. These supporter’s have called on the FCC to approve the plan.
This has been met with opposition from top ISPs. The first to oppose this proposal was T-Mobile, who warned that the broadband network would interfere with its spectrum in adjacent bands. The FCC issued a series of tests to measure the interference issues. The data collected was interpreted differently by both sides, M2Z Networks found the interference was not an issue, whereas T-Mobile found the interference to be a major issue, especially during peak calling times on their network.
The FCC will have a list of priorities to wade through before coming to a final decision on this and other issues they face.
Related posts:
- White Spaces and the Future of Broadband
- Starbucks Launches Free Wi-Fi Internet Service
- FCC Poised to Approve White Space Broadband
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