Spectrum of Greed

You find out how tough your adversaries are when they are backed into a corner.  Such is the place that the NAB finds itself these days, as the FCC works to strip valuable spectrum from the punch drunk broadcast companies and award it to the up and coming challengers in the broadband space.  Gordon Smith started his early rounds with the FCC hearings asking for an objective review of all spectrum, including federal government bands, asking that utilization be carefully reviewed as well.  That was December.  (continue reading…)

According to initial hearings with Congress over the FCC’s sweeping new broadband plan, there is an immediate determination to take back at least 120Mhz of spectrum from television broadcasters and allocate it to mobile phone providers.  Apparently up to 500Mhz may be targeted within the next 10 years.  I don’t think that is going far enough.  Obviously the broadcasters are not taking this well.  Mobile data providers are pretty juiced though! (continue reading…)

The real question is, “Why not in the US?”  Some might blame the lack of US sales on the crappy network service that has plagued the iPhone lately, or suggest that at it’s very high price the market for people that want to shell out that kind of dough for a phone is saturated, but the reason isn’t so simple.  (continue reading…)

Wireless Achille's heel

Group urges FCC … Wow, deja vu, man!  If you do a google search of the first 3 words of this post, a truism is apparent: over 135,000 entries testify to the futility of asking the FCC to intervene on behalf of the citizens of this country.  The rest of the headline repeated today is …urges FCC to open AT&T 3G network to Skype on iPhone.

I am encouraged that many in the media have picked up on this particular effort when wireless battles traditionally go unsung by the press.  I think they have because a different tack is being taken by the Free Press advocates in addressing the FCC.  In the past, they have aimed at the large, overwhelming grievances enacted on consumers by carriers when they are limited in choice and restricted in use of both wired broadband and wireless services, of which only a sub-set is internet.

There is no specific remedy for large grievances that can be pursued under the current rules that the FCC has deployed, as so many of them are vague and being violated in one form or another.  This time however, the advocacy group is playing with more finesse, approaching their adversary with more respect and aiming their energy at the Achilles heel that has been exposed by the popular iPhone and the highly publicized Skype Voice over IP internet service.  Many are watching these events and quietly getting excited, because the chance for real change may actually be upon us. (continue reading…)