Barry Levine, newsfactor
According to a story in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, one of those plans includes a free wireless Internet. The winner of the auction for those frequencies would make broadband wireless Internet available to most of the U.S. Although details of the plan have not been worked out, there are reports that the FCC plan would mandate that the frequencies could not transmit everything the wildly diverse Internet could offer, such as pornography.
The D Block
Another plan for a new auction would be directed at getting a winning bid for the D Block. That group of frequencies was not sold at the last auction, as the minimum bid of $1.3 billion was not reached. Under FCC rules, the buyer would need to allow part of the spectrum to be used by public-safety agencies.
As a run-up to the D-Block reauction, the FCC has been taking comments from industry, public safety, and academics on how the rules for the D Block might be revised to attract higher bids. According to news reports, many public-safety groups, such as the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International and the National Emergency Number Association, as well as some members of Congress are suggesting that the FCC keep the same public-private partnership as previously required.
This requirement seeks to guarantee that broadband communications between government agencies have national coverage and interoperability by requiring the commercial operator to make the frequencies available in the event of emergencies.
'Doesn't Seem Realistic'
The proposition, he said, was that the winning bidder gets the spectrum, uses a great deal of money to build and support the network, and then has to give up its use at times to public agencies. This less-than-compelling business proposition, he noted, was the reason the D Block only attracted one bidder, Qualcomm.
To be attractive to commercial bidders, Ho said, the FCC has to figure out some better incentives in exchange for sharing with public agencies.
He also did not think the idea of auctioning off frequencies that offer free Internet is a very compelling business opportunity. He said it was "interesting, but it doesn't seem realistic," similar to municipality-owned Wi-Fi.
"You get the frequencies, build it out, and then give it away for free," he said, adding that a comparison to television, which does the same thing, is not equivalent. Running an Internet network, he pointed out, involves a greater level of expense and a greater challenge for advertisers than sending TV shows over the air.
0 comments:
Post a Comment