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FCC Undoing Rules That Make It Easier For Small ISPs To Compete With Big Telecom (vice.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: The Federal Communications Commission is currently considering a rule change that would alter how it doles out licenses for wireless spectrum. These changes would make it easier and more affordable for Big Telecom to scoop up licenses, while making it almost impossible for small, local wireless ISPs to compete. The Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum is the rather earnest name for a chunk of spectrum that the federal government licenses out to businesses. It covers 3550-3700 MHz, which is considered a "midband" spectrum. It can get complicated, but it helps to think of it how radio channels work: There are specific channels that can be used to broadcast, and companies buy the license to broadcast over that particular channel. The FCC will be auctioning off licenses for the CBRS, and many local wireless ISPs -- internet service providers that use wireless signal, rather than cables, to connect customers to the internet -- have been hoping to buy licenses to make it easier to reach their most remote customers.
The CBRS spectrum was designed for Navy radar, and when it was opened up for auction, the traditional model favored Big Telecom cell phone service providers. That's because the spectrum would be auctioned off in pieces that were too big for smaller companies to afford -- and covered more area than they needed to serve their customers. But in 2015, under the Obama administration, the FCC changed the rules for how the CBRS spectrum would be divvied up, allowing companies to bid on the spectrum for a much smaller area of land. Just as these changes were being finalized this past fall, Trump's FCC proposed going back to the old method. This would work out well for Big Telecom, which would want larger swaths of coverage anyway, and would have the added bonus of being able to price out smaller competitors (because the larger areas of coverage will inherently cost more.) As for why the FCC is even considering this? You can blame T-Mobile. "According to the agency's proposal, because T-Mobile and CTIA, a trade group that represents all major cellphone providers, 'ask[ed] the Commission to reexamine several of the [...] licensing rules,'" reports Motherboard. The proposal reads: "Licensing on a census tract-basis -- which could result in over 500,000 [licenses] -- will be challenging for Administrators, the Commission, and licensees to manage, and will create unnecessary interference risks due to the large number of border areas that will need to be managed and maintained."
The CBRS spectrum was designed for Navy radar, and when it was opened up for auction, the traditional model favored Big Telecom cell phone service providers. That's because the spectrum would be auctioned off in pieces that were too big for smaller companies to afford -- and covered more area than they needed to serve their customers. But in 2015, under the Obama administration, the FCC changed the rules for how the CBRS spectrum would be divvied up, allowing companies to bid on the spectrum for a much smaller area of land. Just as these changes were being finalized this past fall, Trump's FCC proposed going back to the old method. This would work out well for Big Telecom, which would want larger swaths of coverage anyway, and would have the added bonus of being able to price out smaller competitors (because the larger areas of coverage will inherently cost more.) As for why the FCC is even considering this? You can blame T-Mobile. "According to the agency's proposal, because T-Mobile and CTIA, a trade group that represents all major cellphone providers, 'ask[ed] the Commission to reexamine several of the [...] licensing rules,'" reports Motherboard. The proposal reads: "Licensing on a census tract-basis -- which could result in over 500,000 [licenses] -- will be challenging for Administrators, the Commission, and licensees to manage, and will create unnecessary interference risks due to the large number of border areas that will need to be managed and maintained."
Add this to the list of comments you should recall in 10 years when these rules have totally fucked all the rural communities out of any chance of getting affordable broadband:
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Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
being a former manager at Verizon
Pai was no mere 'manager' at Verizon—he was Associate General Counsel. Before that, he was at the DoJ. So he has a history of switching back-and-forth between lucrative private-sector positions and federal government appointments. Lather, rinse, repeat.
'He who has to break a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom.' -- Gandalf to Saruman
Second, this has nothing to do with cell phones, so the comment about how someone's phone doesn't cover this band and there will be no phone that do is irrelevant.
Third, it is under consideration, not a done deal. The headline is flamebait -- "FCC Undoing" is wrong. They might.
And fourth, yes, licensing small areas creates a lot more work for everyone involved than licenses for large areas. It's called "coordination", and the work goes up exponentially with the number of parties that need to be coordinated. Someone has to make sure that the licensee for Backwater, IA doesn't interfere with the licensee for South Backwater, IA. That's harder than telling T-Mobile in IA not to interfere with AT&T in the next state over.
All of that doesn't mean I support the change. It's just not that earth shattering to begin with.
If you havent seen a mention for months, youre either a liar, or you never read the threads you post in.
I read all the threads I post in, find a link that mentions it.
Republicans have only fixed it so their rich friends get richer,
Wrong - the rich in CA and NY are getting poorer after the tax bill passed, as they can no longer deduct state taxes. I see they are furiously trying to get out of that...
The poor however, get bonuses from many companies they work at, and will see paycheck increases EVERY MONTH from now on and have a lower tax bill in the end.
As for the environment getting more damaged - you just don't understand how people work. The better off a country is economically, the better they care for the environment.
That you can say anything good about this clusterfuck of ineptitude reveals just how incredibly deluded you are.
If you can only see all bad in a thing, that means you are not looking clearly. I'm very sorry you cannot break yourself out of the maze you have thrown yourself in, to the extent you cannot even see clear help for the poor being delivered and being rabidly against it! I mean how screwed up is that that you want to hurt the poor just because you are so insane with rage over Trump? That's just wrong man.
As for Hillarys so called federal offence, its just another delusional
Um, no, running classified material out in the open is clearly a federal offense. There are emails we have from the FBI now that state what they intend to do about the final judgment on the case, before they even interviewed people. Oh and they gave a heads up to Clinton staff so they could wipe the server. Kind of bad form in a criminal investigation.
You really are a dumb sad ass bastard.
I really am very sorry you think that way. Because I have not been clouded by hate, I can see you for a probably nice person who has just been misled badly. I hope you can find your way back someday.
I'll let you have the last response because I have better things to do that re-tread and argue over history that anyone can easily Google.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley