Are you ready for more Internet? That's the question that U.S. regulators will soon be asking, as Reuters is reporting that the Federal Communications Commission is set to reveal the National Broadband Plan on March 16.
While some details of the plan remain to be seen, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has already mentioned a few of the key highlights that the FCC will be recommending to Congress. These include a goal to connect 100 million Americans to 100 Mbps Internet within 10 years and the desire for television stations to give up unused spectrum to assist a growing market for wireless services, amongst others.
What is new, or perhaps unexpected, is some of the backlash that's coming back at the FCC from affected parties, including the very consumers that the National Broadband Plan is, in theory, designed to help. Who's upset... and why?
Government Agencies
While entities like the Department of Defense might not be irritated by the FCC's reported recommendations, they could nevertheless balk at the agency's future requests to give up some of their wireless spectrums for mobile development.
This could directly impact the agency's goal to free up 500 MHz of spectrum for wireless use within the next ten years--"Although the potential of mobile broadband is limitless, its oxygen supply is not," said Genachowski, referring to a future lack of available spectrum for mobile growth, in a February 24 speech.
Television Broadcasters
According to Genachowski, even the largest television markets only use approximately half the spectrum currently allocated to corresponding stations. The FCC wants these stations to voluntarily relinquish their unused spectrums, which the FCC would then put up for bid in an auction-type format.
This process would give companies in the wireless industry a chance to purchase additional spectrums and better support future bandwidth concerns--A Cisco report claims that wireless networks in the United States could carry up to 740 petabytes of data by 2014. As for the television stations, the FCC would send them a direct percentage of the generated cash from the auctions of their “donated" spectrums.
That might sound like a good deal on paper, but it doesn't seem to make much sense for the affected television stations. After all, stations are free to sell their spectrums however they see fit.
“I truly don't visualize a scenario where proceeds [from a sale] would exceed lost business opportunities," said Paul Karpowicz, president of Meredith Broadcasting, in an interview with BusinessWeek.
While some details of the plan remain to be seen, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has already mentioned a few of the key highlights that the FCC will be recommending to Congress. These include a goal to connect 100 million Americans to 100 Mbps Internet within 10 years and the desire for television stations to give up unused spectrum to assist a growing market for wireless services, amongst others.
What is new, or perhaps unexpected, is some of the backlash that's coming back at the FCC from affected parties, including the very consumers that the National Broadband Plan is, in theory, designed to help. Who's upset... and why?
Government Agencies
While entities like the Department of Defense might not be irritated by the FCC's reported recommendations, they could nevertheless balk at the agency's future requests to give up some of their wireless spectrums for mobile development.
This could directly impact the agency's goal to free up 500 MHz of spectrum for wireless use within the next ten years--"Although the potential of mobile broadband is limitless, its oxygen supply is not," said Genachowski, referring to a future lack of available spectrum for mobile growth, in a February 24 speech.
Television Broadcasters
According to Genachowski, even the largest television markets only use approximately half the spectrum currently allocated to corresponding stations. The FCC wants these stations to voluntarily relinquish their unused spectrums, which the FCC would then put up for bid in an auction-type format.
This process would give companies in the wireless industry a chance to purchase additional spectrums and better support future bandwidth concerns--A Cisco report claims that wireless networks in the United States could carry up to 740 petabytes of data by 2014. As for the television stations, the FCC would send them a direct percentage of the generated cash from the auctions of their “donated" spectrums.
That might sound like a good deal on paper, but it doesn't seem to make much sense for the affected television stations. After all, stations are free to sell their spectrums however they see fit.
“I truly don't visualize a scenario where proceeds [from a sale] would exceed lost business opportunities," said Paul Karpowicz, president of Meredith Broadcasting, in an interview with BusinessWeek.
