The activist group Free Press sends out the alert that the US government is going to give away to telecom companies key slices of the radio spectrum left vacated in the transition to digital TV. In their view, these newly available frequencies should be kept aside for unlicensed use to facilitate faster, cheaper form of wireless broadband access, beyond cable and DSL. Imagine wifi access, but much much more robust, long-range and speedy. That’s what this new unlicensed spectrum could mean.
But that’s only if consumers around the country demand it. Otherwise, the FCC is just going to sell it to the incumbent telecoms so that Time Warner and Verizon can again amongst themselves decide how much to gouge us. We’re already paying some of the highest prices for broadband in the developed world — this will help seal the deal.
Head to Save the Internet to send a message to the FCC telling them that you want cheaper, faster wireless access.