Dave, that Cubette Valley Girl has the bandwidth to handle us tech-heads. Bidirectional, I suspect. I doubt she would fall for a soft philosopher type. Speaking of bandwidth, the FCC just announced.....
FCC Approves High-Speed Web Access by Wireless Companies
By JEANNINE AVERSA
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (Sept. 17) - Home cybersurfers will have another place to go for high-speed access to the Internet: companies that provide TV using wireless technology.
The Federal Communications Commission cleared the way Thursday for wireless communications companies to provide high-speed Internet access and other services to and from homes and businesses. [Does this mean MMDS?]
Until now, companies were permitted to provide high-speed Internet service via wireless technology in only one direction - to the home or business. They had to use telephone lines to move information at much slower speeds from homes or businesses.
The FCC's action means wireless communications companies will be able to use microwave and other wireless technologies to move data at high speeds in both directions.
Because of the restrictions, most of the nation's 250 wireless communications companies, which serve 1 million customers, have opted to provide only cable TV service. But the FCC's action now makes high-speed Internet access a much more attractive business to wireless communications companies. [I think it does mean MMDS. Damn, I knew the government was watching me through my satellite TV!]
''This is a historic moment for our industry,'' said Andrew Kreig, president of the Wireless Communications Association International.
American Telecasting Inc., CAI Wireless Systems Inc. and People's Choice TV Corp./SpeedChoice Corp. are among the wireless communications companies with plans to provide two-way high-speed Internet access.
The FCC's action means companies can offer speeds up to 100 times faster than 128 kilobits-per-second ISDN lines provided by telephone companies.
To receive the wireless communications' high-speed service, people would need to have antenna on the roof or outside a window and a cable modem.
The FCC's action also means that wireless communications companies will be better able to compete against their biggest rivals: local cable companies, many of which are already offering high-speed data services.
Separately, the FCC took the first step toward making more frequencies available for companies to beam TV, data and other services directly into people's homes via satellite.
The FCC proposed making a chunk of the public airwaves - 550 megahertz - available for use in 2007. The FCC has not decided whether the frequencies should be made available only to new players in the so-called DBS business or whether existing DBS companies - DirecTV/USSB, EchoStar and Primestar - should be permitted to use the frequencies to expand service. |
