We’ve seen a bit of controversy lately over the AWS-3 spectrum. At first, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was excited about a free broadband plan. He faced plenty of opposition, notably from T-Mobile, and so just last week he cancelled a December 18 vote on the matter. Since then, two congressmen have urged Democratic commissioners to force a vote. You have to wonder, with all the confusion, is this the only way we’ll get national broadband? Stacy Higginbotham of GigaOM discussed the plans under consideration.
Perhaps it is, at least from a pure wireless standpoint. The plan for now consists of auctioning off the AWS-3 spectrum and then using 25 percent of that to provide free broadband access to Americans. That will run at about 768 Kbps, so on the low side of the current mobile broadband range. Paying $30 per month will bump you to the higher, faster, unfiltered tier. The plan would cover 50 percent of the population in five years, and get up to 95 percent in 10.
That, however, would provide slow speeds to the free users. While anything free is great, we might be able to do better. There’s a “Watchdog’s Plan” which envisions an all-fiber network which will deliver 100 Mbps nationwide. That sounds great, but the cost will be even greater for consumers. Those who cannot afford it would be eligible for a subsidy, though one has to wonder what that would mean in regards to the price for the rest of us.
Finally, there’s a University plan, led by EDUCAUSE, which would also deliver 100 Mbps fiber. However, there doesn’t seem to be much coherence to this plan. For instance, it is unknown who would manage the network.
So it looks like each plan has some ups and downs. Is the AWS-3 spectrum really the best way to go?
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