Spectrum Fees May Preclude US Low-Cost Cellular

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."

Comments

Re:Do the math...

[icebike]

> In an efficient business, service would be almost free after 12 months.

Perhaps in something like water or sewer where nothing changes.

But would you be happy with the cell phone service and coverage you had in the past? We demand new technology, better connections, faster data, unlimited calling, etc, etc, etc.

It seems the industry is in a constant state of rolling out new services.