Unlicensed spectrum is super important for innovation! Really the FCC is merely saying that a small portion of the spectrum (now owned by TV stations) should be allocated to the public domain - unlicensed (i.e. not sold at auction to be exclusively owned and controlled by a corporate entity). Mesh networks might be possible in that niche - but so could some other interesting and innovative ideas - tethered blimp networks anyone?. ;) Imagine what the world would be like if there was no such thing as an opensource license, and I think you understand why having some contextual space for different business models is important.
I applaud the FCC for taking this step. I hope enough support lines up behind it. - James Dailey Seattle On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 9:21 AM, Kurtis Heimerl <[email protected]>wrote: > I don't think anyone's talking about mesh networks, are we? > > As far as wifi vs cell networks, that's a huge discussion. The biggest > issues are ones of range and quality of service; cell networks are designed > to go kilometers and provide basic guarantees for voice bandwidth. Wifi > networks are not. However, given enough spare bandwidth (rough given the > tragedy of commons) and in a dense urban situation, there's no particular > reason you couldn't do all of your communications through one of these free > networks. > > I'd be happy to field any more specific questions on the differences. > > On Tuesday, February 5, 2013, Yaw Anokwa wrote: > >> Independent of the regulatory challenges, even small scale community >> WiFi networks very hard to pull off. Shaddi (of TIER fame) wrote about >> this a few years back. He concludes, "I'm not saying mesh networks >> don't work ever...What I am saying is that unplanned wireless mesh >> networks never work at scale." >> >> Related: >> http://serverfault.com/questions/72767/why-is-internet-access-and-wi-fi-always-so-terrible-at-large-tech-conferences >> >> On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM, ashish makani <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > Hi Folks >> > >> > Came across this interesting story >> > >> > >> http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/tech-telecom-giants-take-sides-as-fcc-proposes-large-public-wifi-networks/2013/02/03/eb27d3e0-698b-11e2-ada3-d86a4806d5ee_story.html >> > >> > Excerpt: >> > "The federal government wants to create super WiFi networks across the >> > nation, so powerful and broad in reach that consumers could use them to >> make >> > calls or surf the Internet without paying a cellphone bill every month. >> > >> > The proposal from the Federal Communications Commission has rattled the >> $178 >> > billion wireless industry, which has launched a fierce lobbying effort >> to >> > persuade policymakers to reconsider the idea, analysts say. That has >> been >> > countered by an equally intense campaign from Google,Microsoft and other >> > tech giants who say a free-for-all WiFi service would spark an >> explosion of >> > innovations and devices that would benefit most Americans, especially >> the >> > poor." >> > >> > This proposal is in the US, but would be interesting to see, if >> developing >> > countries with big user bases, could also use large scale public wi-fi >> n/ws >> > instead of/in addition to, mobile telephony n/ws. >> > >> > Also, what about the relative costs of building a large scale public >> wifi >> > n/w as opposed to a mobile telephony n/w, in a world where increasingly >> data >> > dominates voice. >> > >> > cheers >> > ashish >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > change mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> change mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change >> > > _______________________________________________ > change mailing list > [email protected] > http://changemm.cs.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/change > > -- James Dailey skype: jdailey
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