Politician's Spectrum Plan Sounds Mighty Familiar

from the m2z-in-the-house... dept

You may recall the well-hyped venture-backed startup named M2Z that wanted the FCC to hand over a segment of unused spectrum. Part of the plan was to offer a free ad-supported wireless service that would cover 95% of the country, that would be slow and "filtered" so that it was "family-friendly." It would also offer a higher-level paid tier, as well as priority services for public safety uses. The kicker, though, was that M2Z hoped the FCC would hand over the segment of spectrum for free in exchange for a piece of the profits down the road. The FCC turned down the request, but apparently that's not the last we've seen of it.

Congressional Representative Anna Eshoo has introduced a bill that would reserve the same slice of spectrum for a wireless service that would cover 95% of the country, that would have a free tier that was slower and filtered, as well as a higher-level premium tier, and which would offer priority services for public safety uses. The difference, though, is that it looks like this bill wouldn't involve just handing spectrum over, but would include an auction component towards how that spectrum is used. While it does seem like M2Z is well meaning in its plans, it's still hard to see why setting up all these rules makes sense. It still seems like it would make much more sense to create a much more open market system, to allow the spectrum to be put into the best use possible, rather than setting so many rules for each slice of spectrum.
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Filed Under: anna eshoo, politics, spectrum
Companies: m2z


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  • identicon
    Jethro, 21 Apr 2008 @ 5:48pm

    No way to slow down

    Why are (some) of our elected officials so completely addicted to the $$$ contributions. This is the only rational explaination, because they can't really be that stupid - can they ?
    I would like to see at least a few of them stand up and do the job for which they were elected. Is this asking too much ?
    Ok, so lets say this train wreck is pushed thru ... what happens after it crashes - Amtrak ?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    oregonnerd, 22 Apr 2008 @ 9:44am

    solution

    I've got it. Instead of having to bother with actual voters...virtual voters!! you could have IBM and MS collaborate on the side for some more cooperative clients for those loving politicians. And you wouldn't have to worry about free or expensive broadband, either.

    ...Then again, maybe some of the politicians are virtual.
    --Glenn

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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