We knew the White House was on board with the FCC's desire to free up an additional 500MHz worth of spectrum over the next decade from private and federal holders, as announced last year, and now Obama has announced the plan to do it. The plan is to incentivize the current spectrum squatters with a share of the revenue gained from auctioning off the spectrum -- mostly for mobile broadband use -- which only seems fair, and for now it seems those auctions will be voluntary. But that's just the tip of the iceberg: the plan also includes a $5 billion investment in constructing 4G networks in rural areas (with a goal to reach at least 98 percent of Americans with the service), a $3 billion fund for 4G R&D to help the rollout, and $10.7 billion for a wireless public safety network. The beauty of this plan is that all these proposed costs are offset by the spectrum auction, which is estimated to raise $27.8 billion, of which $9.6 billion will be dedicated to deficit reduction. Oh, and the best news? The government has already found 115MHz worth of Federal spectrum that it can free up by using its other spectrum more efficiently, and has another 95MHz worth in its sights. Hit up the source link to see President Obama's speech on the subject, which has just begun, or check it out embedded after the break.
via EnGadget c/o Chris Fisher
Yet another case study in how things have become more mobile, and if this bill goes through, true information will be more available wherever you are, ambitious to shoot for 98% but certainly possible. As so many today have really become more and more mobile as phones have become less expensive with more functions then a typical pc had in the 80s and early 90s. Devices that by themselves may as well be something as simple as pocket pcs. The abilty to access the internet and it's associated information no matter where you may travel is another benefit to an ever mobile society as well as a travelling classroom, to learn from the collective resources on the interconnected web, the limitations on access has been the one thing, that the hope is with this bill become a thing of the past.
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