U.S. F.C.C. Opens The Way For National Free Internet Plan

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U.S. F.C.C. Opens The Way For National [blog.wired.com]Free Internet Plan

Plans to offer national free wireless Internet access got a boost on Friday when the Federal Communications Commission released a report stating that the plan would not interfere with service from other wireless carriers.

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin plans to auction off a chunk of airwaves and told the Washington Post that free broadband is a neccessity:

"This would be lifeline broadband service . . . that would be designed for lower-income people who may not otherwise have access to the Internet."

[edited by: encyclo at 8:49 pm (utc) on Oct. 13, 2008]
[edit reason] fixed typo [/edit]

[grandpa]

I'm going to play the Devils Advocate here..

To start, have we redefined lifeline? Typically this refers to someone who may be falling or drowning or in need of some other critical support. How does internet access play into that role? Maybe I'm still bugged by the fellow who was throwing out 'facts' in a conversation the other day (not here at WW) and who failed to realize that at least one person (me) knew he was full of it. Let's call it what it really is, not a lifeline but a gimme.

And how many of these lower-income people have computers? OK, true enough, they may soon be joined in their income bracket by a lot of folks who currently aren't lower-income, and who do have computers today. For the people who are there today, how many of them have a computer at home? For the most part, lower-income people already have access to the internet through the libraries programs across the country. These programs are funded in part from income derived from library cards, access fees and printout fees. A small part of the funding, I'm pretty sure, but that's precious income that will potentially be lost.

So who wins? Well, on the face of it, the public wins. But that's just part of the story. On the TransitTV (MARTA has television on buses and trains) there is an ad that offers a low cost computer setup. All you need is a telephone number and a checking account. These are the people that stand to see the biggest win, by extending credit to those who cannot afford credit so computers can be available in every home so people can take advantage of the free internet plan. It might be a good time to buy up used computers and refurbish them.

With regards to the big ISP players who are grumbling... who cares?

The Devil is done.

[LifeinAsia]

I'm sort of on the fence on this issue. Initially, I was going to give a similar DA remark as grandpa- how can they afford computers if they can't afford Internet connectivity?

But then I started thinking that wireless access is for a lot more than just traditional computers. Cellphones, PDAs, and other wireless devices are (or at least CAN be) much cheaper than computers. And who knows what other devices will become wireless in the future?

Granted, low-income people are probably not going to be the initial adopters of wireless refrigerators... But having a wireless smoke alarm that could contact the fire department directly in case of a fire could probably be made cheaply. (Yeah, of course there are lots of problems with that as well, but I was just throwing out an idea.)

But I do agree that calling it a "lifeline" probably isn't the best thing.

[grandpa]

And who knows what other devices will become wireless in the future?

Excellent point. I admit, I wasn't thinking too far beyond this morning. Items like smoke alarms and refrigerators could run into commercial licensing problems since that bandwidth is slated for public consumption. But if we implant an RFID chip into every kid, dog, cat and car then the neer-do-wells of the world would have a harder time plying their nefarious trades. I'm all for that.

[Shaddows]

Sure, and while your at it you could embed a microphone, compress the audio and have it streamed in real time to govt audio processors, tagged to individuals.

Big Brother- coming to an RFID tag near you!