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3G Spectrum - Off Limits After Attacks
Casey writes: "MSNBC is reporting that due to the recent attacks, potential 3G spectrum currently held by the military has been placed off-limits for the foreseeable future -- with no replacement on the table. The FCC says that it might remove the current "spectrum cap" restrictions, allowing bigger cellular companies to gobble up smaller ones just for their spectrum. Expect to see a lot of consolidation if this goes through."
The whole 3G spectrum debate has been a weird strawman for the lack of comprehensive spectrum policy in the U.S., as opposed to the agreements by which most of the rest of the world now operates.
Because of poor allocation of scarce resources back when analog devices needed huge bandwidth to transmit, the actual usage across the military bands isn't uniform, comprehensive, or necessary. But it would cost upwards of ten billion dollars according to several reports issued by the military itself, the FCC, and the spectrum offices at the NTIA, among many other agencies.
Another issue: the military has to use an entirely different set of frequencies when deploying missions abroad. Outside the U.S., in the next couple years, there will be millions of people using the various 2.x GHz bands that the military uses here. (Most of the domestic uses are for fixed radios and dishes, but still...)
The answer for 3G is probably to make current bands more efficient. On the flip side, though, the military has ever more telemetry, requiring even more bandwidth.
Back and forth, back and forth...it may be too late to fix this comprehensively.
Freelance tech journalist for the Economist, MIT Technology Review, Macworld, and others
This story doesn't have any credible source cited other than an analyst at the Yankee group. Companies like Yankee, PC Data and Jupiter group pay their analysts based on how often they can get quoted. Basically, publishing companies call them up when they need a quote for a story they've conjured up.
'Yankee Group'
'Hi, this is Bob from ZDNet. We are writing a story on eBooks, can you make up a quote for us?'
'How about "The eBook platform will be on the rise as consumers continue to look for convenience in reading materials. Dmitri will burn in hell."
'Thanks!'
The real question we should be asking would center on why *Corporate* people don't have to play by the same rules as *REAL* people. If I were to make the same demands I expect the roar of laughter to see me out of the building. So why is business allowed to act immorally, and even expected to..?
I'm not certain exactly what you're referring to, but if it's the airlines' demands, let me explain:
The airline business is a VERY low margin and low cashflow business. That means that, though they make billions in revenues, the airlines don't clear that much actual profit (relative to their revenues) and always have very little cash on hand.
When an event such as the attacks on the WTC takes place and the government puts restrictions on air travel (i.e. the FAA forces all flights to be grounded) and overall safety is at risk (i.e. evidence that more attacks could be planned makes it a good decision to keep flights grounded), the airlines do everything they can to keep going. If these events cause them to run out of the tiny amount of cash they currently have, they're going to ask the government for help, and the government is probably going to give it to them.
Why? Becuase if they go under, you are going to suffer. You are going to have to take the train, bus, car, mule, whatever. That will cause a massive destabilization of our business infrastructure, and will hurt our economy even further. It's the government's job to protect (and guide) the economy to recovery, so don't complain when they do that job.
Large corporations, such as the airlines, that are centerpieces to the economy will get preferential treatment by the government because lack of such treatment has major consequences on the country's well-being.
On the other hand, one person's need for preferential treatment isn't going to mean a damn thing to the overall economy, so you won't get any help.
nlh
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