Our Airwaves Belong to AT&T and Verizon

town hall meeting

The radio was playing, the announcement that AT&T and Verizon won the bidding wars over wireless spectrum that was auctioned off. I leaned against my shovel, looked up at the supervisor next to the ditch. "Did that DJ just say the FCC awarded our airwaves to the same companies that have been tapping our phones?", I asked.

"Yep.", he said. The FCC is just doing their schtick. It wasn't but a matter of days ago, AT&T commissioned a report by www.connectednation.org that reported the economic impact of giving the airwaves back to the public would top $134 billion a year. These guys then arranged with Martin to license the airwaves for a one-time payment of less than $20 billion.

Maybe it's the ditch shoveling that confuses me. Personally, I tend to disagree with the AT&T sponsored report. I received this response from the folks that did the report:
"The digital recording studio is a wonderful example of broadband opportunities.
Secondly, as far as the EIS report itself, the employment numbers are not based on specific industries or jobs - they reflect the impact of broadband adoption levels on total non-farm employment, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics."

Digital recording studios are low-end PC-based desktop computers. Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics makes freely available audio and video software for the public. The cost for setting up state-of-the-art equipment to engage in world-class digital television and radio production, by low income neighborhoods and rural communities promises to contribute literally billions a year in revenues the states might realize each year on top of what the report concludes.

Looks like my mayor, Jim Erbs, our state governor, Chester Culver, and everyone else in a position of power have decided this shift in how our country operates would be too risky.

It costs each household a one-time $50 payment, plug in a little box just like the digital tv converter box, and a decentralized broadband infrastructure is created that gives local broadband infrastructure to every community in America. Too risky. Better to go with the national make sure every American can watch digital tv for $50 per household. Then, give our airwaves to AT&T and Verizon, even though they're going down for tapping our phones, and make sure every American is saddled with a centralized broadband infrastructure that keeps power in the hands of a few.

Did I mention that local broadband infrastructure using a wireless mesh network (think the old fashioned "last mile solution") is just $50 per house, and from that point forward for generations to come, every resident enjoys local high speed broadband for free? How about this? Local high speed broadband that is tenfold faster than anything AT&T, Verizon, or the cablecos are willing to offer, enables every child to get a true 21st century education? Or? The community would be able to negotiate contracts with hospitals that want access to their local broadband infrastructure in order to participate in local telemedicine programs that lower their healthcare costs? The list is endless. Sometimes I think our democracy has all but disappeared.

So, the ditch supervisor says, "OK. Put your hand up in front of your face . . ."