FCC considers free high-speed internet plan

[waltky]

Would be good to help us catch up with Japan and So. Korea...

FCC ponders free high-speed Internet network plan
30 May `08 WASHINGTON — Federal regulators may require the winner of airwaves being auctioned off by the government to provide free wireless high-speed Internet service across a large swath of the country.

The Federal Communications Commission at its June 12 meeting will likely vote on an order setting terms of the spectrum auction that could include the free Internet service provision. A similar proposal was rejected last year. "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.

Kenny said he didn't know when the auction would be held and details must still be worked out. However, he said the resulting network must reach 50% of the population four years after the winner gets a license and then 95% after 10 years, he said. Under the plan, the winning bidder would provide free high-speed service on a small portion of the spectrum that potentially could be available on millions of Americans' phones and laptops. Jessica Zufolo, a telecom analyst with Medley Global Advisors, said the plan is "risky."

"While it (the public interest component) is hugely laudable and really fulfills a lot of public policy objectives of both Congress and the FCC, from a business standpoint it's very difficult to justify," she said. Two years ago, a wireless start-up, M2Z Networks based in Menlo Park, Calif., asked the FCC to let it use those underutilized airwaves so it could offer free nationwide broadband service.

In exchange, M2Z — co-founded by John Muleta, former head of the FCC's wireless telecommunications bureau — would pay the federal government 5% of sales generated from advertising on the resulting network. The FCC rejected the proposal because it meant giving the airwaves to the company without it bidding against other carriers for the rights. Supporters of the plan say it could help widen competition in a market dominated by wireless carriers, such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

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[waltky]

FCC gives nod of approval...

FCC Clears Free Wireless Web
OCTOBER 13, 2008 - A proposal to create a free, national wireless Internet service got a boost as Federal Communications Commission engineers concluded that concerns are overblown about such service interfering with other carriers.

The report clears the way for the FCC to move forward with a plan to auction off airwaves to a bidder who agrees to offer free, national wireless Internet service. The FCC is expected to finalize rules this year and could begin auctioning off airwaves in early-to-mid 2009. The report released Friday was bad news for T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG, which uses airwaves that abut the chunk of spectrum that's set to be auctioned off. T-Mobile USA bought its spectrum for about $4 billion a few years ago. T-Mobile has fought FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's proposal to encourage development of free Web access by raising concerns that the service would disrupt the company's 3G wireless network, for which it charges customers.

But FCC engineers said recent tests in Seattle showed the airwaves could be used for a wireless broadband service "without a significant risk of harmful interference." "This report confirms that we're able to move forward with broadband services as proposed by Chairman Martin without causing harmful interference to license users of adjacent spectrum," said an FCC spokesman. A T-Mobile spokeswoman was not available for comment. Wireless companies and some lawmakers have raised concerns about the plan, because the proposed auction rules appear to favor M2Z Networks Inc., a Kleiner Perkins-backed start-up that originally floated the free-Internet plan two years ago.

M2Z originally asked the FCC to give it a national 25 megahertz block of airwaves to build a national wireless Internet network. The start-up said it could pay for the build-out via advertising and a subscription-based plan for consumers willing to pay more for faster service. The idea of handing out airwaves potentially worth billions didn't go over very well at the agency. But in May, Mr. Martin proposed auctioning off the airwaves to a company willing to set aside some of its airwaves for free use. The network would have to reach 50% of the U.S. population in four years and 95% within a decade.

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