Imagine if the US Government found an un-charted new island, just off the coast of Florida with plenty of ready-to-develop shovel-ready beach front property, and decided to parcel the island up and auction it off to the highest bidders. Sound crazy? Well that's exactly what is happening over at the FCC this next year as the 700 MHz band is freed up by ending analog television transmissions.
While I'm a huge proponent of creating space for new services and giving opportunities for new business to capture this unique opportunity, I worry about how this is working financially. Follow me just for a second:
-The FCC decides to cut the cord on analog television
-This requires that most of the the US spend $ to buy a new TV or a converter box
-Then the FCC auctions off the airwaves to wireless carriers (the FCC puts the $ in the General Fund)
-Then the wireless carriers charge us $ to use those airwaves?
Google to bid for U.S. mobile airwaves - Yahoo! News
It sure sounds like a bit of a financial shell game to me - how about you??
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