The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently announced plans for a free broadband service to cover the country. The service will be based upon what are now known as “advanced wireless services” which can include a range of technologies from 3G to the latest broadband delivery system. As has become very common in the US, the authorities have attached a number of conditions to the forthcoming sale of 25MHz of spectrum in the 2.1GHz range, which will come with a licence to cover the whole country free broadband being one of the conditions.
On the surface this looks like a great move for internet users, but the devil is in the detail with speeds required to be at least 768Kbps for both downloads and uploads – a mere fraction of what is currently available. If you also look a little deeper the service need only be available to 50% of the population within 4 years, rising to 95% after the 10 year term closes. As you would also expect, the successful bidder for the spectrum would also be able to add on an array of premium services, although quite what they will be is not clear as yet.
While US broadband technology and services often grab the headlines, the likes of the UK are further down the broadband path having gone through a sustained period of development over the last few years.