Originally posted on December 13, 2008 @ 11:22 pm
The Bush Administration is trying to block the possibility of providing free wireless broadband all over the US.
In a letter that it sent to the FCC, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez told FCC chairman Kevin Martin to reconsider the proposal to bring free wireless broadband all across the country by using the unused DTV spectrum. The Secretary said that the spectrum should be allocated instead to market-driven policy.
Gutierrez further wrote that “The history of FCC spectrum auctions has shown that the potential for problems increases in instances where licensing is overly prescriptive or designed around unproven business models. In contrast, open and highly competitive auction processes have supported both greatly expanded broadband services and the taxpayers’ interests in spectrum license allocation.”
I have a very different view from the Secretary. I think that not everything should be driven by the market. There are some resources that should be provided for free especially if it will bring further innovations and distribute information to a wider coverage.