| Wasted 700 MHz Wireless Sigh. The WHOLE POINT of freeing up the 700 MHz band and auctioning off licenses was that the major carriers would expand high-speed 4G to rural areas, providing them with high-speed substitutes to landlines. The centerpoint of Obama's and the FCC's Broadband Plan was to cover 98% of the US with 4G wireless. But now Verizon and AT&T, the holders of 700 MHz spectrum, are CAPPING their services. What is the point of extending wireless service to rural areas when the service is capped at pathetically low limits?
In fact given the low number of users per tower in rural areas, and the fact that Verizon and AT&T own all their own backhaul, why would you even need to cap service at all??? The bandwidth doesn't cost them anything!
Now the FCC is faced with the AT&T and T-Mobile merger. If they approve that behemoth of a disaster, then they've truly abandoned their original mandate. |
