dailywireless.org » Free 2155-2175 MHz!

Free 2155-2175 MHz!

Ladies and gentlemen… I’ve traveled over half our state to be here tonight. I couldn’t get away sooner because my new well was coming in at Coyote Hills and I had to see about it. That well is now flowing at two thousand barrels and it’s paying me an income of five thousand dollars a week. I have two others drilling and I have sixteen producing at Antelope. So, ladies and gentlemen… if I say I’m an oil man you will agree. — There Will Be Blood

In the wake of failed municipal wireless projects that hoped to “bridge the digital divide”, One Economy announced this week that it is a launching a two-year program to bring internet access to 500,000 low-income Americans in more than 50 communities, backed in part by $36 million from AT&T and its foundation (pdf).

Then on Thursday, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation said it will put up $15 million over five years to create the nonprofit Knight Center of Digital Excellence in Akron, Ohio. Knight has also set up a $10 million Digital Opportunity Fund, which it will use to seed access projects for 26 communities that raise matching funds.

Mark Cuban has a solution to the lack of broadband in the United States — require cable systems to go 100% digital. That would free up lots of bandwidth for data, he says:

There is a dirty little secret in the cable industry. Its being kept secret not by the cable distributors, but by the big cable networks. End this practice and the United States goes from being 3rd world by international broadband standards, to top of the charts and exemplary.
Make this change and Net Neutrality becomes a non issue. There is plenty of bandwidth for everyone.
What is the dirty little secret ?
That your cable company still delivers basic cable networks in analog. Why is this such an important issue ? Because each of those cable networks takes up 6mhz. That translates into about 38mbs per second. Thats 38mbs PER NETWORK.
If we want to truly change the course of broadband in this country, the solution is simple. Just as we had an analog shutdown date for over the air TV signals, we need the same resolution for analog delivered cable networks.

It’s an interesting idea.

Of course Cuban’s HDNet would benefit and everyone else would need a compatible digital cable box. And there would be some infrastructure cost.

Here’s another idea; free the 2155-2175 MHz band.

Dedicate it for Municipal Wireless and manage it like the 3650 band (a quasi-licensed band that requires only a small registration fee).

It’s simple. Cheap. Practical. Nothing needs to be invented.

The 20 MHz of (unused) simplex spectrum, between 2155-2175 MHz, is not being utilized. It could be dedicated to provide municipal wireless using Mobile WiMAX.

Free.

With a range of 3-5 miles, municipal wireless networks could be built for one tenth the cost. Bridge the “digital divide”.

Right now.

M2Z Networks, made good on its threat to take the Federal Communications Commission to court, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overturn the agency’s dismissal (pdf) of M2Z’s nationwide wireless broadband plan. Briefing in the case begins this spring and will continue throughout the summer.

M2Z said the agency violated numerous laws in throwing out its proposal to provide free, family-friendly broadband service in the 2155-2175 MHz band. Another aspect of the M2Z Networks plan, notes MRT Magazine, is that public-safety entities would be given priority access to the network.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin recently said the commission plans to launch a proceeding to examine rules for that spectrum. Here’s Martin Statement, Copps Statement and Adelstein’s Statement (pdfs), on the 2155-2175 MHz band proposal.

How hard would it be to make a $99 Freeview-like box for both municipal broadband (at 2.155-2.175 Ghz) and 20 digital tv channels (via ICO at 2.2 Ghz). Add AWS or WiMAX for mobility.
It could be a home run for digital divide advocates.