(MintPress) – A government-initiated plan to allocate airwaves intended for the television industry to be used instead for public Wi-Fi networks is coming under fire from the telecommunications industry while gaining praise from companies like Google and Microsoft.
As reported in the Washington Post, the cellular telecommunications industry, valued at $178 billion, is actively lobbying against the move, as it poses a threat to the availability of airwaves sought after by telecommunication companies, including Intel, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm.
It could also potentially offer a more affordable option for consumers, depending on how public Wi-Fi capabilities are administered. The airwaves, considered more intense than those previously used for piloted community Wi-Fi programs, could potentially be a viable source of free — if not more affordable — Internet for those living in the nation’s larger cities.
“We think that that spectrum would be most useful to the larger society and to broadband deployment if it were licensed,” Intel’s executive director of communications, Peter Pitsch, told the Washington Post. “As unlicensed, there would be a disincentive to invest in expensive networking equipment and provide users with optimal quality of service.”
Google and Microsoft are on the other end of the argument, collectively favoring more robust and reliable public Wi-Fi service. More access to the Internet will be a boost for the companies, as it could equate to more customers using the Internet and devices that allow such access.
The FCC’s Chairman, Julius Genachowski, argues that opening the airwaves to public purchase would mirror more of a free-market system. The telecommunications industry has already come under fire from communities seeking to implement their own Wi-Fi systems, with towns such as Lafayette, La. calling out industry giants for attempting to monopolize the market.
“Freeing up unlicensed spectrum is a vibrantly free-market approach that offers low barriers to entry to innovators developing the technologies of the future and benefits consumers,” Genachowski told the Washington Post in an emailed statement.
The weight of lobbying efforts on behalf of cellular telecommunications companies seem to be working out, at least through the advocation of some legislators.
Genachowski is under fire from primarily Republican legislators who say that bidding the airwaves out to the telecommunications industry could raise funds for the U.S. Treasury. That sentiment is echoed by the telecommunications industry, who undoubtedly are seeking to control the airwaves.
The plan still has some hurdles to jump through, as deals would still have to be made with television stations to obtain the airwaves in question. FCC Commissioners will vote on the plan Sep. 28.