Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

US Considers Some Free Wireless Broadband Service

Posted by kdawson on from the get-what-you-don't-pay-for dept.

gollum123 writes "US regulators may dedicate spectrum to free wireless Internet service for some Americans to increase affordable broadband service nationwide, the Federal Communications Commission said on Tuesday. The FCC provided few details about how it would carry out such a plan and who would qualify, but will make a recommendation under the National Broadband Plan set for release next week. The agency will determine details later. One way of making broadband more affordable is to 'consider use of spectrum for a free or a very low-cost wireless broadband service,' the FCC said in a statement." Nobody has more than a couple of paragraphs on this story. None of the press coverage mentions the obvious likelihood that any such free network would be heavily filtered, censored, and monitored.

4 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. heh by Pojut · · Score: 4, Insightful

    First comes government cheese. Then comes government health care. Now comes government internet connections. Next comes government monitoring and censorship of said inter- *NO CARRIER*

    --
    Living With a Nerd
    1. Re:heh by skids · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I see nothing in the liked article that says the "free or low cost service" would be run by the government, just that they'd consider allowing companies, localities, and nonprofits to use these frequencies if that's what they do with it.

      As always, you put a lot of your trust in your ISP, so choose carefully.

      --
      Someone had to do it.
    2. Re:heh by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Though you know this is government we're talking about. That NO CARRIER will not be due to filtering and regulations, but simply to shoddy, half-baked and simply not working connections.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. This isn't new by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't remember the name of the company but suffice it to say, there is a company who has been riding the back of the FCC for years, trying to get them to approve some kind of free wireless broadband plan just like is being described here.

    The old plan was to have the government collect some revenue from the company in exchange for offering exclusive use of the spectrum. The company was planning to filter the connection, specifically to block porn, because they had some significant ties to the moral morons in the "family" groups.

    I don't recall how they were planning to pay for the whole thing, but i seem to remember they had for-pay plans that might have subsidized the free (censored) plans.