GigaOM

Having made sure that there is little room for competition in legacy and wired broadband businesses, the FCC it seems is using wireless as the iron rod to keep cable and phone companies in check. In order to promote broadband wireless, FCC is opening up more spectrum. That doesn’t take away from the fact that US is one nation where spectrum is on a strict atkins diet. Still, encouraging signs. For starters FCC opened up the 3.6 GHz band, which is lightly regulated/licensed. Earlier it had opened up the high end 70-to-86 Ghz bands with light licensing, allowing folks like GigaBeam to offer their WiFiber services. The Register says even the “long neglected 2.3GHz bands look appealing again, with a new deployment in Massachusetts pointing the way forward.” ISP MegaNet in Bristol County around New Bedford is going to offer $20 to $40 a month (depending on speed) package to those who live within the five mile range of its transmission towers. They are using Navini Networks’ equipment. The network can handle 3000 users in the initial phase but will eventually be able to handle 10,000 customers. I must point out that most of the 2.3 GHz swath is held by Verizon, BellSouth, AT&T and owners of bankrupt operator Metricom.

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