Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) hopes to jump-start Wi-Fi networks in smaller cities and rural areas, by include funding in the Broadband Tax Enhancement Act, S1147, to provide tax breaks for companies installing wireline broadband equipment. The bill passed the Senate Finance Committee the first week of July and now awaits further action.
Schumer’s report (pdf) shows that upstate New York residents and businesses do not have sufficient access to high-speed internet. According to FCC data, urban and densely populated counties have far more high-speed internet providers with the vast majority of rural counties having less than three providers.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, a gubernatorial candidate, has his own plan to provide affordable broadband to all citizens of the Empire State.
If elected, Spitzer would contract with companies in the private sector to provide high-speed Internet service at affordable rates. The private company or companies would pay for the necessary infrastructure and agree to sell the service at low rates, in exchange for being the sole provider over that infrastructure for several years.
M2Z, a company funded by venture capitalists, has their own plan — free nationwide broadband wireless network. They want to use the simplex part of the AWS spectrum (from 2155Mhz to 2175 Mhz). M2Z says their proposal solves the Universal Service Fund dilema. It would be free (with ads) or $20/month for faster access without advertising. In lieu of an auction, and in exchange for exclusivity, M2Z would give the Treasury 5% off the top.
M2Z argues the 20 MHz of bandwidth would lay fallow for years since they’re not paired with other airwaves. M2Z, which stands for “Move the cost of data transport to Zero,” has filed a 127-page proposal (PDF). It might also dovetail nicely with MVP’s satellite/cellular repeaters and Modeo’s DVB-H mobile television, which also use the 1.7GHz band. Triple play.
The FCC has decided that “free” nationwide broadband wireless (and exclusive use) is not an idea whose time has come. The FCC took the 20 MHz frequency block off the AWS auction table.
The goals of Universal Service Fund, as mandated by the 1996 Act, are to promote the availability of quality services at just, reasonable, and affordable rates; increase access to advanced telecommunications services throughout the Nation; advance the availability of such services to all consumers, including those in low income, rural, insular, and high cost areas at rates that are reasonably comparable to those charged in urban areas.
The FCC says funding for rural telephone service is drying up (pdf). Fewer people are paying into the Universal Service Fund as land lines are dropped for wireless phones and VoIP.
The FCC recently ruled that DSL providers no longer had to pay into the USF. To counter the estimated $350 million shortfall that move created, the FCC ruled VoIP providers must now pay into the fund. Now that’s competition!
[...] M2Z Networks, a wireless broadband start-up backed by Sandhill Road venture capitalists - proposed to build a nationwide wireless broadband network — with free, ad-supported service — in the AWS band. It didn’t get far with the FCC. [...]
Left by dailywireless.org » FCC: Moving on 700MHZ Public Safety Interop? on December 18th, 2006