The plan to institute a free Internet service has been a bumpy road. The Federal Communications Commission proposed a plan to auction off the existing air waves that would become available as many stations plan on switching to digital. The FCC recently canceled an upcoming meeting where it planned to vote on the controversial free Internet service.

The FCC planned to auction off 25 megahertz of wireless spectrum in the 2155MHz to 2180MHz band. In exchange for auctioning off this spectrum, the commission came up with the condition that the license holders must offer a certain portion of the usage for free wireless broadband service.

This is definitely a noble idea as many believe such tools as the Internet should be free to the public as it is quickly becoming one of the main forms of news and information. However the plan has been met with much opposition from politicians, wireless providers and even civil rights activists.

One notable wireless broadband service provider, T-Mobile has even stated that opening up such a service to the public would be detrimental to its business. T-Mobile spent nearly $4.2 billion in purchasing a spectrum band in 2006. The company believes that freeing up the spectrum to the public would be disruptive to the company’s service.

The FCC requires the license holders to provide a filter for pornography and materials not suitable for children. Civil rights groups are up in arms because this would mean that the government would be capable of censoring information. These feelings undoubtedly stem from observing other countries like China where a super filter is in place to prevent certain information from reaching its citizens.

Personally, I feel that objection is ridiculous. A service provided free to the public would mean that a certain level of accountability has to be attached to it. In cases where consumers purchase Internet service through commercial means, it is the responsibility of the parents to setup the filters and monitor their children’s usage. However, with the free Internet service, children could potentially access the service without their parent’s knowledge from anywhere in the U.S.

The House Committee of Energy and Commerce recently accused FCC Chairman Kevin Martin of mismanagement and abusing his powers. A detailed report was released this past Tuesday, alleging that Martin withheld information from Congress about a mismanaged program.

In light of all the protests and accusations, Senator John Rockefeller (D-W.Va) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) sent a letter this Friday to Martian asking him not to make any decisions or actions regarding controversial proposals. That same day, the FCC announced that it would be canceling the upcoming meeting to vote of the free Internet service.

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Entry was posted on Sunday, December 14th, 2008 at 10:08 pm under Internet, Politics, Wi-Fi.

Read more entries by Mike Ferro.
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