FCC Opposes Plan For Free Broadband

FCC OPPOSES PLAN FOR FREE BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Corey Boles corey.boles@dowjones.com]
The Federal Communications Commission is seeking to shut the door on a plan by a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to offer free wireless broadband Internet service everywhere in the US. M2Z Networks Inc. issued a statement Wednesday in which it said it would take the FCC to court in an attempt to force the agency to conduct a thorough analysis of the plan before it determined whether it would back it or not. According to John Muleta, a former head of the FCC's wireless bureau and now chief executive of M2Z, the group was informed last week by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's office that he had circulated a plan with the other four commissioners to deny M2Z's plan. The company has proposed taking 25 megahertz of spectrum that is currently vacant and using it to build a wireless broadband Internet network to provide free service to 95% of Americans within a decade. In addition to the backing of well-known Silicon Valley venture capitalists who count among their earlier investments Amazon.com Inc., Netscape, Google Inc., social networking site MySpace and TiVO Inc., the plan has the backing of a number of prominent lawmakers. Public interest groups have been strong advocates of the M2Z plan. Andy Schwartzman of the group Media Access Project said he was disappointed that it appeared the FCC had decided against M2Z's plan. Noting that Mr. Martin has repeatedly publicly stated that it is a key policy objective of his to promote more rapid deployment of broadband, Mr. Schwartzman said the FCC should be willing to "take chances to enable broadband deployment."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118720450065998722.html?mod=dist_smartbrief
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