It was great to read that the FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced plans to open up almost 200 megahertz of unlicensed radio spectrum in the 5 GHz bands. This will increase by almost 1/3 the amount of spectrum that netBlazr has available to provide service to our growing base of customers in Boston’s Back Bay, South End, Beacon Hill, Newmarket, Fenway, Symphony, and Roxbury neighborhoods.
There is always a lot of talk about all the money raised by the FCC auctions of radio spectrum in the U.S. It’s practical to auction off those public airwaves to ensure the most efficient use of that spectrum. But equally as important to society are the unlicensed spectrum bands which generate much more innovation and public value per amount of spectrum made available, particularly since the auctioned spectrum is increasingly going to just a small number of mega-telecoms companies (Verizon, ATT, Sprint, etc.) which seek to protect their dominant market positions.
More details can be found from these related Fierce Broadband articles:
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/fcc-unleashing-more-5-ghz-spectrum-gigabit-wi-fi/2013-01-09?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/press-releases/fcc-chairman-julius-genachowski-announces-major-effort-increase-wi-fi-speed
Bottom line, more “unlicensed spectrum” is always better for society.