FCC Not Serving Wi-Fi ‘Free Lunch’

Just in case you were starting to give into the hype, Tammy Parker reminds readers “The FCC is not planning to create gigantic, free Wi-Fi networks. (And, by the way, TV white space is not the same as Wi-Fi.)” In her article There is no free Supercalifragilistic Wi-Fi on FierceWirelessBroadbandWireless.com, Parker explains, “I'm referring to the Washington Post's recent article, which put forth the unfounded notion that the FCC has proposed a free-for-all, nationwide, public Wi-Fi network that is being opposed by the nefarious telecommunications industry.”

She notes the article appears to confuse the planned TV band incentive auctions with the FCC's plans to unleash up to 195 MHz of unlicensed 5 GHz spectrum for 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi. She holds FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski “responsible for this dazed and confused fiasco.” Read Parker's article for a great white space reality check.

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