FCC may put another 25MHz of spectrum on the block for "free broadband"

Looks like the FCC isn't quite done collecting on spectrum auctions just yet, and Chairman Kevin Martin has apparently scheduled a vote for June 12th to decide the eventual fate of the 25MHz swath of spectrum between 2155 and 2180MHz (affectionately referred to as AWS III, despite not being three times better than AWS). Apparently whomever snags the spectrum might need to be prepared to offer a "free service tier" (define that how you will) that would reach 50% of the population in the first four years and eventually 95% of the population by the time the license expires. But that's just one possibility for what may happen to AWS III, which, of course, we'll be tracking closely. Like hawks, Kevin, like hawks.

[DioGo @ May 24th 2008 11:11AM]

interesting.....!!!

[PhoenixAvatar @ May 23rd 2008 10:02PM]

That's a pretty cool map there. Any place I can find it in high-res?

[crstffr @ May 23rd 2008 11:26PM]

I came on to ask the very same thing! that's a sweet map for sure.

[Zal @ May 24th 2008 12:07AM]

Me three! Anyone have a link?

[MacFanboy @ Jun 14th 2008 1:09PM]

Ehh what about GOOGLE............ you know put "fcc spectrum map" and, there you go, high resolution pic: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=opera&rls=en&hs=teo&resnum=0&q=fcc%20spectrum%20map&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

[Mark @ May 24th 2008 9:44AM]

Same here. Wanted to see what those big ass chunks are.

[Shane @ May 24th 2008 11:16AM]

I have a copy hanging on the wall in my office that my assistant printed out as a test/exercise for a huge color inkjet printer.

Will have to ask him if he still has the original file...

[Shane @ May 24th 2008 11:35AM]

Try this link...

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/usallochrt.pdf

(apparently my replies earlier ended up as new comments--this comment system still needs some work--and an edit button!)

[Zal @ May 24th 2008 5:08PM]

Thanks Shane!

[Sudo @ May 23rd 2008 10:02PM]

Another couple billion in their pockets.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ May 24th 2008 1:32AM]

I was wanting to know the same thing.

[You @ May 23rd 2008 10:09PM]

But where is the spectrum for Sinister Google Projects (http://xkcd.com/273/)?

[Darkest Daze @ May 23rd 2008 10:11PM]

Looks like someone needs a defrag.

[mxt920 @ May 24th 2008 1:13PM]

Ha Ha, i knew that image looked familiar, now I know why - I haven't used a defragmenting program in forever. Good call.

[Za @ May 24th 2008 9:30PM]

Not if they are a Mac user...

[distortedlabs @ May 23rd 2008 10:16PM]

http://www.siemon.com/us/white_papers/images/05-02-17_wifi_why_for_us-freq-allocations-chart_big.jpg

[CT A @ May 23rd 2008 11:00PM]

Isn't Engadget pointing to the 25GHz instead of the 25MHz?

[CT A @ May 23rd 2008 11:01PM]

Nvm

[a @ May 23rd 2008 10:19PM]

very nice illustration.

[dreamscape86 @ May 23rd 2008 10:20PM]

Free as in speech or free as in beer?

[FordGTGuy @ May 23rd 2008 10:22PM]

Free as in a drunk hooker.

[MARSHAK @ May 24th 2008 6:12AM]

make sure you wake up first.

[Neebs @ May 23rd 2008 10:22PM]

I can't believe we're selling parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.

[dreamscape86 @ May 23rd 2008 10:30PM]

Oh, didn't you know? The government automatically owns everything and is sometimes kind enough to lease it back to us...

[Stiv @ May 23rd 2008 10:49PM]

Think about it. Without regulation, different companies could overlap technologies. Imagine if an FM station just randomly decided to broadcast in the same band as cell phones. Or if I could buy a 1000-watt WAP that used the same frequency as police radios. It would be chaos. The FCC isn’t selling parts of the spectrum; they are selling permission to use part of it. Makes perfect sense to me.

[TheNino85 @ May 25th 2008 5:11PM]

I agree that the government selling electromagnetic wave frequencies just seems so incredibly WRONG, especially due to the fact that I'm both a physics student and am leaning libertarian. But how else would the electromagnetic spectrum be divided up to reduce interference? Much as I hate to admit it, the government partitioning the spectrum and selling it to raise money to bloat itself further seems to be a lesser evil than civilization reverting to the industrial age. But if anyone can come up with a better idea so that the government gets out of the picture AND the electromagnetic spectrum doesn't become a logistic nightmare, please do tell. I'm really curious.

[nanobis @ May 23rd 2008 10:32PM]

well thats very nice of them, just wait till they charge the air tax.

[Craig B. @ May 23rd 2008 11:53PM]

I think they should give that spectrum to Engadget.com & its commenters. We can all get like 1 Megahertz, though maybe Ryan and crew could get 2 or 3.

[Zews @ May 23rd 2008 11:57PM]

@PhoenixAvatar and @crstffr
You can find the high resolution map (42 x 27 ") on the NTIA web site at
www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.pdf

It's called the "U.S. Frequency Allocation Chart"

More info can be found at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/chart_03.htm

[Montusama @ May 24th 2008 12:07AM]

Thank you, can't wait to have some fun with this

[carbonrain @ May 24th 2008 3:30AM]

@Montusama

What kinda fun can you have with a high resolution United States Radio Frequency Allocation chart? not pokin fun, jw what you have in mind.

myself, i'm going to print a 13"x19" for someone i know that'll get a laugh.

[Kyle @ May 24th 2008 12:07AM]

Based on that nifty and pretty cool Chart, the 2155 - 2180 spectrum is father to the left than what is highlighted in the picture. It says it clearly on the chart, you figure Engadget would have at least circled the correct spectrum slice.

[Sam Zebian @ May 24th 2008 8:41AM]

Look at how much frequency they give to fucking AM Radio!!! They should just kill AM and leave FM alone, then use all of the space AM's been using for something more people will use, like a universal internet frequency, or a universal TV frequency for digital TV, like what they have for some mp3 players in Asia and europe, but ours would be free for the basic channels, and since they'res so much spectrum, we could put in all of the channels for a low price, like $10 a month, since you wouldn't have to lay any cables. It would be able to replace all of our current TV companies, or b e run by them. Or maybe we could use it for some sort of VOIP-esque cellphone frequency... Or maybe we could use it for all 3 of those ideas, since they're so much fucken spectrum being used by AM!

[dreamscape86 @ May 24th 2008 9:50AM]

I may not be right on this, but I think that the reason AM has such a huge band is that it's a very low-frequency portion of the spectrum, so it requires more bandwidth to make up for the low frequency. So anything requiring high data throughput (video, broadband, even VOIP) would be useless in that frequency range.

[Shawn Garringer @ May 24th 2008 3:02PM]

Its not proportional. AM Broadcast band gets roughly 1.2MHz of bandwidth to cram in all the stations (0.520MHz - 1.710MHz). An NTSC or ATSC TV station is given 6MHz of spectrum (per channel). This means, that all the AM Radio stations fit in roughly 1/6th the space given to a single TV station. If you think you're going to fit much in 1.2MHz of bandwidth, think again...

FM Radio isn't much better. It gets 20MHz to play with for all stations, so the same as 3 TV stations get.

Not to mention that lower frequencies require gigantic antennas to transmit (without fancy coils, a full wavelength -- or the distance the traveled between the rise and fall of the sine wave that makes up the transmission). At 600KHz that is nearly 1600 feet. Not going to be able to make a very portable transmitter with an antenna that is 1600 feet long.

Low frequencies are very carved up, and work well for what they're alloted for, but the types of small, local area communications we need in the digital age are just better suited to higher frequencies. One, the signals are line of site, so you avoid interference issues. Also, as mentioned above, the antenna concerns. Not to mention just the sheer amount of bandwidth available at higher frequencies. Also, IIRC anything under 30MHz needs to be coordinated internationally to avoid interference -- those signals travel very far...

[Shane @ May 24th 2008 11:17AM]

Found it...
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/usallochrt.pdf

[Shane @ May 24th 2008 11:18AM]

My reply didn't work the first time and ended up as a new comment...

Found the file...

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/usallochrt.pdf

[Zal @ May 24th 2008 5:08PM]

Perfect! Thanks Shane!

[Shane @ May 24th 2008 11:19AM]

Blast this comment system! I replied to the thread above asking where to find the original and it ended up as a new comment instead of a reply TWICE!

[Unknown @ May 24th 2008 11:53AM]

It is stories like these that make me never want to pay taxes again. Just the thought that my tax dollars are going to pay someone's salary whose job it is to figure out how and why they are going to sell thin air to companies is laughable. Tax the people to fund inane organizations like the FCC, who then in turn charge companies for thin air, then tax the profits the companies make off of the thin air that the government sold them.

Does this make anyone else want to riot, or is it just me?

[JayD @ May 24th 2008 12:56PM]

You need to have an organization that regulates the spectrum. If we didn't have the FCC then the company with the biggest tower would own it all. Things like radio and TV would be impossible because there would be no way to organize who gets what.

What you don't seem to understand is that the spectrum belongs to everyone and these auctions are there to ensure that if companies want to capitalize on it they have to first agree to requirements that will benefit the rest of us.

Also, there's different reasons they use an auction instead of say, a random draw. It shows commitment. You aren't getting a small company that doesn't have the ability to follow through. Also, you seem to get the feeling that the money goes into the "pockets of the FCC." As if anyone was making money off of this deal. It just means you pay LESS taxes because less has to be given to the FCC.

[Earl Jr. @ May 24th 2008 12:58PM]

I think you missed the discussion further up, but the short answer is that without regulation, the spectrum would be in complete chaos to the point it would be unusable.

[Unknown @ May 25th 2008 12:50AM]

Regulation is possible without costing money. More importantly, without my hard earned money.

It's far too big brother for me. The government is trying to regulate far too much here. Let the guy with the biggest tower win. America is supposed to be a free-market economy. Verizon and AT&T own the vast majority of the air; monopoly has already been achieved. If this wasn't true, I'd be all for your point of view. I understand where you're coming from, but at this point it is too far gone. Verizon and AT&T already own all of the air. Now it's just my tax dollars going to fund government jobs wherein these employees, collectively known as the FCC, can get as much money out of the same three or four companies.

It's a vicious circle. Cut the government and it'd all be better.

[thedesolate1 @ May 24th 2008 4:14PM]

Free 3G and Skype FTW!

[Nathaniel @ May 25th 2008 1:11AM]

Imagine how much space would be cleared up if they were to get rid of AM and FM radio. I only use it for one radio station I listen too, which even then repeats all of the music they play. Over and over. Over and over. Over and over. AGAIN!

[Shane @ May 25th 2008 11:47AM]

Actually there's very LITTLE space allocated to AM and FM radio in the grand scheme of things. about 1.2 Mhz for AM and 20 Mhz for FM. That's relatively tiny.

We could actually use MORE spectrum for broadcast for stations that WANT to do something other than what you describe and serve the public. The FM band has become extremely crowded with satellite fed national networks that have little local public service.

There ARE broadcasters out there trying to do the exact opposite of what you describe and provide a service to the public...The problem is that most of them can't get frequencies allocated to them any more because the FM broadcast band is so crowded...