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Google et al. Want 700 MHz Auction Opened Up

The 700 MHz spectrum could give birth to the much-anticipated third pipe, but phone and cable lobbyists are currently pressuring the FCC to sell companies like AT&T and Verizon our airwaves — in a flawed auction process — so they can hoard this valuable spectrum and stifle competitive alternatives to their networks. Google and other would-be providers are not taking it lying down. They want the FCC to mandate that whoever wins the auction be required to sell access to those airwaves, at wholesale prices, to anyone wanting to provide broadband Internet service. They also want anonymous auctions to prevent the giant incumbents from manipulating the results against small players (as they have done in the past).

4 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Hmm... by mgoren · · Score: 0, Redundant

    What is this third pipe? What are the other two?

    Cable & DSL, apparently. At least that's what I get from the article.

  2. I hope google is not too "good"... by symbolset · · Score: 0, Redundant

    To wallpaper Congress with Benjamins, because that's what it's going to take to put this over, and we really need it.

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  3. Re:Hmm... by ajanp · · Score: 0, Redundant
    The other two are basically referring to cable and DSL. The so-called "third-pipe" is a new method/technology for delivering broadband access to consumers, with the theory being that this new method would be cost-effective to deliver broadband to both urban and rural areas.


    It's basically a third alternative (after cable and DSL) for giving people quality access to the internets. Ofcourse the problem is that the major players want to grab up huge portions of the market and basically stifle competition and discourage new, smaller players from entering the market. Pretty much makes a third alternative for broadband access pretty useless if the smaller competitors are being cut out/marginalized from the start.

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  4. Re:Hmm... by megabyte405 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    It appears that the "third pipe" refers to a third viable option for high-speed broadband access. The other two pipes are cable modem technology and DSL. Source: http://telephonyonline.com/news/telecom_third_pipe s_charm/

    (It does _not_ refer to creating a third ISM [license-free] band such as 900MHz and 2.4 GHz (especially since 5.8GHz [802.11a] is also license-free), and afaict, that's not what Google is lobbying for - they just want to be able to license it)

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