Spectrum Fees May Preclude US Low-Cost Cellular

Posted by kdawson on Saturday February 28, 2009 @04:29PM from the no-free-lunch-or-breakfast-or-even-tea dept.

theodp writes "Not to apologize for an industry that charges $27,000 to catch a Chicago Bears game, but will the huge spectrum fees charged by the government block the emergence of low-cost cellular service? In the most recent FCC spectrum auction, carriers paid nearly $20 billion to grab a swath of the 700MHz spectrum. And now under President Obama's proposed budget, wireless carriers would be hit with huge annual fees — eventually reaching $550 million per carrier per year — for the right to hold a spectrum license. Critics say the carriers will simply pass these fees through to consumers."

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Do the math... by aaarrrgggh · 2009-02-28 16:39 · Score: 4, Informative

$10/user/year for the proposed fees.
$40/user/life for the license.
Drop in the bucket compared to the initial infrastructure deployment. In an efficient business, service would be almost free after 12 months.