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FCC OKs Sweeping Spectrum Frontiers Rules To Open Up Nearly 11 GHz Of Spectrum (fiercewireless.com)
Monica Alleven, reporting for FierceWirelessTech: In one fell swoop, the FCC today put the U.S. in a 5G leadership position, voting 5-0 to approve its Spectrum Frontiers proceeding and make spectrum bands above 24 GHz available for 5G. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, noting his previous remarks on the proceeding, kept his remarks brief to avoid repeating himself. But he summed it up this way before the final vote: "This is a big day for our nation. This is a big day for this agency," he said. "I do believe this is one of the, if not the most, important decision this agency will make this year. By becoming the first nation to identify high-band spectrum, the United States is ushering in the 5G era of high capacity, high-speed, low-latency wireless networks. By not getting involved in the technologies that will use the spectrum, we're turning loose the incredible innovators of this country," he said. The new rules open up nearly 11 GHz of high-frequency spectrum for mobile and fixed wireless broadband -- 3.85 GHz of licensed spectrum and 7 GHz of unlicensed spectrum. The rules create a new Upper Microwave Flexible Use service in the 28 GHz (27.5-28.35 GHz), 37 GHz (37-38.6 GHz) and 39 GHz (38.6-40 GHz) bands, and a new unlicensed band at 64-71 GHz. The FCC will continue to seek comment on bands above 95 GHz.
Seriously you will still get ripped off royally by the cellphone carriers, who will charge you over $100, for a network speed you'll never get with less than 5GB of bandwidth per month. So this means nothing.
I'd be inclined to agree with you - for thinly populated areas.
You do realize that (for a wide frequency band) the EM spectrum is a shared resource? Like the air we breathe: if I start a fire, that removes oxygen from the air around it. And puts smoke in the air. Smoke that will be visible from a distance, and the combustion products may affect people in a wide area. Therefore (in most populated areas) people are not free to burn stuff out in the open as they please. Such activities may be regulated, and rightfully so.
Above certain EM frequencies (say, IR and up), the physical properties of signals make it pointless to try and regulate things. Below certain frequencies, lack of practical applications make regulation not-needed / pointless. But in between, we're talking about a shared (and limited!) resource. So some government regulation is quite appropriate.
Europe here. If the choice is to either have net neutrality or 5G, I take net neutrality. Twice. Thrice on weekends. Hell, take 3G while you're at it, too.
In other words, why should I give a shit about how fast my internet is if I'm not the one who gets to decide what this speed is spent on?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.