Wireless Business Model is Unsustainable

A coalition of public interest groups tells the Federal Communications Commission that it is impractical, inefficient and ultimately anti-consumer to attempt to meet the growing demand for mobile data consumption primarily through traditional reallocations of exclusively-licensed spectrum by auction. The current commercial wireless business model - based on exclusive licensing, tower-based hub/spoke channelization, centralized infrastructure and metered billing -- is not sustainable in the long term, they argue. They suggest a market evolution toward these more spectrum-efficient and cost-effective "hybrid" or "heterogeneous" wireless broadband networks. Freed from carrier control, the groups predict, wireless device innovators will be motivated to offer consumers hybrid devices that can determine on the fly what connectivity is most economical for the consumer at a given time and place.

They offer four foundational principles during the historic period that lies just ahead: 1) More unlicensed and opportunistic access to the public airwaves; 2) fully flexible licensing that remains subject to public interest obligations; 3) a proactive competition and consumer protection policy; and 4) complete transparency, particularly with respect to an inventory of the airwaves