Google et al. Want 700 MHz Auction Opened Up

The 700 MHz spectrum could give birth to the much-anticipated third pipe, but phone and cable lobbyists are currently pressuring the FCC to sell companies like AT&T and Verizon our airwaves — in a flawed auction process — so they can hoard this valuable spectrum and stifle competitive alternatives to their networks. Google and other would-be providers are not taking it lying down. They want the FCC to mandate that whoever wins the auction be required to sell access to those airwaves, at wholesale prices, to anyone wanting to provide broadband Internet service. They also want anonymous auctions to prevent the giant incumbents from manipulating the results against small players (as they have done in the past).

Re:Hmm...

[kc32]

The other two would be the 900MHz and 2300MHz bands.

Re:Hmm...

[scooter.higher]

FTFA:

"The 700 MHz auctions will not give birth to the much anticipated third pipe if the licenses are auctioned to the very same vertically integrated telephone and cable incumbents that dominate the wireline market."

Reading that leads me to believe that "telephone and cable incumbents that dominate the wireline market" are the first two pipes.

Pipes of course referring to internet connectivity.

You have to have a pipe to connect to the tubes... (couldn't resist)

Re:Spectrum Anarchy - kill the FCC

[Comatose51]

In an unregulated scenario, it would be whoever has the most powerful transmitter would win. It really doesn't matter what scheme you come up if someone just decides to blast the airwaves. Things like CDMA and TDMA only work because all the participating radios are working off the same agreed upon protocol. CDMA requires all the transmitters use a chirping code such that the resulting transmissions are orthogonal to each other. TDMA requires a centralized management of time slots. Even Bluetooth requires that everyone on the same PAN subscribe to the same pseudorandom number sequence. If someone just decides to blast radio waves, there's nothing anyone or any scheme can do.

Re:Hmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

No. The other two would be phone and cable.

Re:Spectrum Anarchy - kill the FCC

[Anonymous Coward]

it is because your electronics do not have good filters on them, a few ferrite beads and you are good

Re:Spectrum Anarchy - kill the FCC

[NateTech]

The people touting no control at all, also have no metrics or basis for their claims. Your analysis is as close as it comes when we talk about unlicensed free-for-alls, and if 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz are examples... trying to do real services that people pay for in unlicensed uncontrolled spectrum would be a joke. Whoever had the most money for the most transmitters and amplifiers, would win.

And considering that there are still LICENSED users of those bands who've all but had to abandon them to the noise floor created by the Part 15 unlicenced gadgets also adds more fuel to your comments.

900 MHz, and 2.4 GHz are already overcrowded wastelands, and spread spectrum technology somewhat covers up the mess that's been made there for the end-users. There are now 15 (most open, unsecured) 802.11 access points accessible from my suburban driveway. We're all interfering with each other, most of the end-users just don't know it. They think the performance numbers they get today are normal. Early adopters have seen it go drastically downhill.

Re:You can keep your money.

[ghyd]

Yeah there must be some kind of real problem because the ADSL I know in my foreign (well, not foreign to me) country has nothing to see with what I read about it here. For me it means a rock solid connection, low price, no caps, 3MBPS TV, HDTV for some events, VOD, free phone, +10MPBS even in small towns, and a whole lot of services (no need for Tivos here, ADSL boxes do the same things). For 30 a month.