

Another View: Use wireless spectrum to reduce digital divide

Feb. 18, 2013  |  Comments
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The following editorial appeared in the Baltimore Sun on Feb. 12.

The Internet could eventually be as ubiquitous as the air we breathe if the Federal Communications Commission moves forward with a plan to allow free access to an unused part of the broadcast spectrum. The Wi-Fi networks that would flourish on that bandwidth could powerfully transform our lives and spur massive innovation in the economy - if the idea can get past the multi-billion dollar interests standing in its way.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is spearheading the public Wi-Fi effort on the grounds that it could lead to whole new industries of products and services, but the idea would also serve the agency's mission to reduce the digital divide by expanding the availability of high-speed Internet access and reducing its cost. Such a system would likely not be free ... and it would likely have substantial drawbacks based on the number of people using a finite amount of bandwidth. But it would make wide-scale wireless networks technologically and economically feasible. As part of a balanced plan for reallocating part of the public airwaves, it makes sense.

The effort has powerful backing from tech companies like Google and Microsoft. They argue in a brief to the FCC that more public Wi-Fi access will spur the use of "millions of devices that will compose the coming Internet of things" - and, in turn, provide new markets for their products and services. On the other side, dominant telecommunications companies like AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Intel and Qualcomm have already begun a lobbying process to oppose the FCC's plans, arguing instead that the unused portion of the spectrum should be auctioned to private companies. And no wonder; wireless communications is a nearly $180 billion a year industry, and providing a chunk of the spectrum to the public for free could lower the barriers of entry for potential competitors.

What the FCC is talking about, though, would not completely upend the current wireless or broadband Internet markets. ...


Moreover, it is also in the public interest for the government to help provide access to information. Where libraries once sufficed for this task, it is clear today that much of the information we now depend on rests in the digital world alone. The Internet has quickly moved from a luxury to an essential tool for modern living.

... We live and compete globally in the digital era, and so from an economic perspective, providing increased opportunity for American entrepreneurs to innovate is an important step in the right direction. Equally as important, providing greater access to information for all Americans, regardless of level of income, holds vital moral and economic implications for our country's future.

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