FCC OPPOSES PLAN FOR FREE BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Corey Boles [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking to shut the door on a plan by
a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to offer free wireless broadband
Internet service everywhere in the US. M2Z Networks Inc. issued a statement
Wednesday in which it said it would take the FCC to court in an attempt to
force the agency to conduct a thorough analysis of the plan before it
determined whether it would back it or not. According to John Muleta, a former
head of the FCC's wireless bureau and now chief executive of M2Z, the group was
informed last week by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's office that he had circulated
a plan with the other four commissioners to deny M2Z's plan. The company has
proposed taking 25 megahertz of spectrum that is currently vacant and using it
to build a wireless broadband Internet network to provide free service to 95%
of Americans within a decade. In addition to the backing of well-known Silicon
Valley venture capitalists who count among their earlier investments Amazon.com
Inc., Netscape, Google Inc., social networking site MySpace and TiVO Inc., the
plan has the backing of a number of prominent lawmakers. Public interest groups
have been strong advocates of the M2Z plan. Andy Schwartzman of the group Media
Access Project said he was disappointed that it appeared the FCC had decided
against M2Z's plan. Noting that Mr. Martin has repeatedly publicly stated that
it is a key policy objective of his to promote more rapid deployment of
broadband, Mr. Schwartzman said the FCC should be willing to "take chances to
enable broadband deployment."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118720450065998722.html?mod=dist_smartbrief
(requires subscription)
* FCC against valley firm's free broadband proposal
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2007/08/13/daily53.html?ana=from_rss
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