FCC Plans for Free Internet
12/05/2008Although millions of people across the United States enjoy the Internet in their homes, libraries, and workplaces, access to the Web costs money. This may change, however, according to a plan created by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make Internet access free.
According to the plan - which is strongly opposed by the cell phone industry - 25MHz of the Advanced Wireless Services band will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, who would then be required to offer at least 25% of the 25MHz for a free broadband network reaching at least 95% of the US population.
This plan is likely to present some challenges, not only in reaching such a large segment of the population, but also from mobile phone providers and free speech advocates. The cell phone industry opposes the idea for obvious reasons, as phones with Internet access have revolutionized the market (yet again). Free speech advocates are against a condition in the FCC's proposal that the winning bidder prohibit pornography and other objectionable or possibly offensive material. This is likely to pose a greater problem than cell phone companies, as the pornography industry serves a vehicle for generating revenue on the Web not only for the industry itself, but for advertisers as well. Because of this, an opt-out option may be available to adults according to the most recent version of the proposal.
Details of the plan remain to be worked out and decided upon; the FCC will discuss the issues and vote on rules relating to the sale at a meeting on December 18th.
The idea of free Internet is not new. Public WiFi access has been available gratis in a number of cities and towns for years now, not to mention all the cafés and other businesses that provide free access to customers with wireless capability. Go out for an espresso in any college town and chances are, you'll see students with laptops procrastinating on Facebook.
In 2005 the Silicon Valley city of Sunnyvale, California became the first city in the country to provide free WiFi. This was followed by the establishment of free WiFi New Orleans, a welcome opportunity for people to stay connected to the rest of the world in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
It seems that free Internet access is an inevitability of the future. When, exactly, free national access will be available is more difficult to divine, but it is a very real possibility that within the next ten years you will not have to buy that espresso to be able to poke (or simply email) your friends and other contacts in public.
