Thanks to Mike Horwath for sending me the heads up on Ars Technica’s interesting article on free wireless service for everyone. I’m tempted to just copy their whole article, I thought it was so good, but I’ll recap and encourage you to read for yourself.
There’s a company called M2Z. For four years they have been asking the FCC to sell them spectrum in the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) band (1.9GHz to 2.1GHz). They will create a fast broadband service with some of it, and with the rest they’ll build a free 768Kbps wireless network, rolled out to most Americans over a ten-year period. To sweeten the deal, they have offered to pay the US Treasury a percentage of their revenue, and fund the service with our own capital, partnership deals, and ads.
So far the FCC hasn’t given an answer. More recently M2Z has submitted a proposal for ARRA broadband stimulus funding with the County Executives of America to pilot this approach in 13 counties. (County Executives of America represents 700 counties. So if have to think that if this went well there would be real potential for expansion.)
According to Ars Technica…
The only way that the National Telecommunications and Information Agency’s broadband stimulus fund is going to fork over this cash is if the FCC greenlights the use of that spectrum. And while the NBP mentions the free wireless concept, the FCC says it won’t make decisions about the AWS band until it has completed a consultation with the NTIA that goes through October 1. That’s one day after NTIA is expected to announce its last round of stimulus awards.
So that’s the opportunity. There are some sticking points and Ars Technica does a good job outlining them – and rebuttals. I think how you feel about the rebuttals will depend on how you feel about the opportunity to start. For example – is 768Kbps fast enough? Well it’s not great, but it’s better than nothing, which is what many folks have and/or can afford today.
