Along the same line of thought, I'm beginning to sense that if wireless is to deliver equal (or near equal) capabilities to those of wireline offerings, especially in areas of relatively high penetration, then it may only be possible through the use of fiber to microcells, or to pico and then possibly to femto cells, allowing for maximum re-use of frequencies. All of which means smaller footprints per access point and a heckuva lot more of them.
Otherwise, and despite whether or not an altenative approach is capable of penetrating walls, other approaches will only run into premature spectrum exhaust, imo. But hold the press. As I find myself completing this post the following message from Harold Feld just found its way into my inbox:
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Open Access back in the debate at 700 MHz Auction
[...] the FCC voted to include the open access proposal the Ad Hoc Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (Pub. Knowledge, MAP, CU, CFA, Free Press and New America Foundation). The proposal called on the FCC to require that licenses comprising 30 MHz of the 60 MHz of spectrum to be auctioned in the 700 MHz band be conditioned on an "open access" license condition. This condition would prohibit the licensee from engaging in retail wireless service sales (on this spectrum), and require the licensee to lease wholesale spectrum on a non-discriminatory basis.
If adopted, it would make 30 MHz of "beachfront" spectrum available for lease in every market in the U.S.
This proposal is in addition to the "Frontline" proposal, which would create a public-private partnership with public safety to make up to 22 MHz of spectrum available under an "open access" condition, but such commercial use would be "preemptable" by public safety.
Hopefully, those interested in renewed discussion of open access, whether in wireless or wireline, will take advantage of this opportunity to speak up. You can find more info on the proposals and the 700 MHz auction generally at:
wetmachine.com
(my 13-page "field guide" for 700 MHz auction)
wetmachine.com
(my predictions in advance of the meeting)
publicknowledge.org
(general background and coalition filings)
publicknowledge.org
(pre-meeting)
publicknowledge.org
(post meeting victory)
In addition, MAP released 2 studies by Dr. Gregory Rose analyzing last year's AWS auction and why it sucked rocks. You can see my blog post (with relevant links to studies) here:
publicknowledge.org
Finally, CNET did a good story on this:
news.com.com
Harold
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Is the FCC merely responding to stepped up pressures at this point and the heat being brought on by Commerce?
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