I'm on the Illinois Manufacturers' Association email list. Mostly their take on things is anti-progressive even as we recognize that progressive positions on issues almost always lead to long term benefits for business as well as individuals. But some times they are able to see through their short-term profititis and recognize the potential benefits of things like universal health optimized by government organization.
Today's email contained just such a nugget.
The High-Stakes Debate Over Wireless Broadband
Small businesses need to take notice of an important debate over broadband Internet service that could have profound implications for e-commerce and the future of telecommunications.
They were alerting their members to a New York Times article by Keith Girard. For Keith the buzzword was "White Spaces" rather than 700MHZ or "net neutrality". In any case there was a recognition of the issues and a tentative coming down on the correct side of the issue.
The issue is important because it involves the next generation of Internet broadband service, the so-called (and some say mythical) "third pipe" of connectivity. Right now, Cable TV and DSL phone connections provide 96 percent of the nation's broadband service. The third pipe is based on the wireless transmission of data.
...snip...
Four years ago, the FCC opened a proceeding to explore using the spectrum for broadband, and powerful industry trade groups have formed to do battle. Today, the "White Spaces Coalition" (WSC) includes such industry heavyweights as Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, Intel, Philips, Earthlink, and Samsung. The equally powerful National Association of Broadcasters and a group called the Association for Maximum Service Television are leading the opposition.
...snip...
The Media Access Project and other proponents framed the debate in a recent letter to Congress: "White space access is about improving local emergency communications networks, nurturing small businesses and entrepreneurship, creating competition in the broadband market, and ensuring that low-income, minority, and rural households are not left behind as our technology advances in the 21st century."
That should be the standard by which the FCC's actions are judged. And broad public awareness of the issues will give us our best chance to see that the agency gets it right . . . this time.
