FCC looking to free up spectrum, and the airwaves that support it, with broadband and wireless for all
By Tim Stevens 
posted Sep 4th 2009 10:08AM
posted Sep 4th 2009 10:08AM
posted Sep 4th 2009 10:08AM
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lol at the bike
I had to zoom in to see it
why is it up there?
Worlds most extreme stationary bicycle(?)
Now with bonus Cancer Clusters
you guys are silly. that's a high end antenna interface boosting signal at the speed of peddle transportation
Thank goodness I'm not the only one who saw it!
Try to steal my bike now.
I did. Who's bike do you think is up there?
WI-FI bicycle :) glows in the dark :)
What's the point with 5GB/month caps.
Hehe to the bike too.
Sprint and Verizon have 5GB caps; AT&T does not.
The reason behind the cap is that using data puts a strain on the network. Granted, most users used under 5gb (or just over) when it was "unlimited." But the problem was that the ones who didn't keep to that soft cap, went excessively over. Users could go 150gb+, which not only was expensive, but it also slowed down the connectivity of other devices. The cap was installed to relieve pressure on the network. Look for a higher cap with 4g/wimax.
And ATT does have a cap on data, just like the others
I'll give someone $10 to go up there and get the bike.
OMG! ET is alive! ALIVE I tell you!!!
Do we get a read link or am I just taking this bit of info on your good word?
Well, I guess it will be good word. It would be interesting to see what kind of speed could be accomplished through wireless means, and what of the latency?
Disused?
It is a word, but yes it does sound weird.
I want to know what frequencies they are going to take over. Sure they may not be getting full use but i am sure that someone is going to be pretty mad when their frequencies they ahve been using for decades are stolen to satisfy some punk that wants to tweet that he is taking a crap right now.
I just want alternatives to DSL (I hate the phone company) and cable (they're even worse). Hopefully wireless is my savior. Even if it only forces existing providers to behave themselves.
This can't be good news for broadcasters who might either want or already be using those 'disused' frequencies...Not to mention amateur radio operators (yes, the hobby is still alive and well serving public communications needs when all else fails).
Looking at the frequency allocation chart though (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.pdf) there does appear to be a lot of space for stuff that can't possibly actually be in use...The problem is that certain frequency bands are only suitable for certain purposes. I can't imagine the reaction when the first person to get assigned HF frequencies for wireless data looks at the size of the antenna they're going to need and realizes what kind of limitations (interference, propagation, etc) they are going to suffer...
Zack Morris phone, making a comeback!
what is with the bike?
FREE INTERNET > FREE HEATHCARE
(just allow me to buy RXdrugs, and with free internet i could just teach myself how to take care of myself)
NAW' SAYIN!?!?
HEATHCARE is care provided by heath bars btw.
Free Internet everywhere? I think the folks at Comcast, Verizon, etc. might have something to say about that.
I would hope that the when the new frequencies go for up sale, that verizon, att, comcast, tw are banned from bidding. During the 700mhz auction, I got the feeling that they only bought the frequencies to keep others from competing with them. What's the point of "competition" if only the same few craptacular companies buy all the frequencies. We don't have broadband competition really. You get your choice of getting shafted by the phone company or by the cable company. That's probably why we (in the US) are behind other countries in broadband speeds.
Technically you are right in that several countries have higher average network speeds than we do. But you have to take into account that these counties are considerably smaller in both population and physical size. So just looking at the average speed doesn't give an accurate representation of the level of technology in use or the efficiency of the networks. http://www.speedtest.net/global.php According to this we are 27th behind a lot of tiny countries. But a very close second to the whole of Europe, mind you the continent comparison lumps us with the expansive and broadband barren Canada/Greenland and a crap load of third-world and third-worldesque counties.
Dear FCC,
Please try to free up the frequencies the rest of the world is using so there's some semblance of coherency and compatibility.
Thanks,
The People
Hell I use to want free wifi like everyone. I even want free healthcare and free upgrades to my clunker, but then I realize nothing in life is free. If you let the gov offer you free wifi, it will be shitty and you still have to pay for it somehow. I say screw that....I'll buy my own wifi thank you. And I'll get my own healthcare too. Government taking control of everything is like living in a communist country.
Umm, the government is not trying to give you free internet. They are talking about taking some more spectrum and making it license free. I.E, a company or person would not need to have a license to use it. Just like the 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ spectrum. These can basically be used for any thing, WiFI, wireless phone, bluetooh, house alarms etc. If they do this with low enough spectrum (1ghz or lower), it could really help spur broadband, since any one could start their own broadband company with out wires and the distance would be far grater than a typical WiFi access point. I wish they did this with the 700mhz block they just sold, but they wanted the billions they got for it.
There are differences between socialism and communism.
Of course there are very few, if indeed any, pure markets of any specific theory in operation in the world.
That being said...
Communism has greatly failed thanks to both typical human power lust and the inability to navigate the chaos of what demand will be for products and so guide usable production to eliminate both shortages and waste.
Socialism on the other hand has been pretty widely successful and is responsible for the high standards of living in many parts of the world.
The problem with the USA is our stubborn inability to look at the models of what others have done and adopt what is demonstrably workable.
The first thing everyone wants to be sure of is that we aren't going to copy whatever anyone else did - even if it works.
I have never understood that.
Meanwhile massive marketing money has successfully equated a lack of regulation with "free markets" and American patriotism.
Why don't we just do what has thus far proven most successful.
Here is a hint - it is more socialistic and less what we have been doing up to this point.
I want a public option.
Turns out I might be a socialist.
Also... the bike.
Original of the photo with clear image of the bike.
http://image06.webshots.com/6/7/19/92/78171992hemOfh_fs.jpg