Changing the Game

In my previous post, I talked about VOIP as a killer app, one that I think is like a racehorse coming up on the outside lane to disrupt the lead horse. While all the attention today is on the iPhone, and rightly so, it's a beauty, watch for ATT's competitors to counter their "Apple" advantage with some other type of fruit. One of the best ways to compete against an exclusive is to refocus the market on something else. I suspect one of them will try to change the game in some way, sometime in the near term. One way will be to leverage new types of wireless spectrum that do data transmission better than ATT's Edge, like say, for instance, the 700 MHz spectrum coming available soon in an FCC auction.

To better understand the potential inherent in a new type of wireless wavelength technology, I recommend this guide: Obsidian Wings: The Spectrum Auction for Dummies (and by Dummies).

I think you will find it to be a good primer to help the layman understand wireless spectrum, both from a physical and from a political perspective. Check it out!

Posted on June 29, 2007 at 06:13 PM | Comments (0)

It's Fixin' To Get Interestin'

The New Wireless Wars

Hard to find a better, more comprehensive review of the impact of upcoming FCC spectrum auctions. A good primer on what to expect. I'm excited...aren't you?

Posted on May 22, 2006 at 09:47 PM | Comments (0)

Spectrum Resources

Radio Revolution I think that this comprehensive whitepaper by Kevin Werbach did more to give me the perspective on the potential of smart radios and a new way of looking at wireless spectrum than anything else I've read. This is a great place to start to begin to understand radio, wireless, and why there is so much potential in this area.

Spectrum Regulatory and Legislative Primer The changes before the FCC are laid out in this whitepaper. What happens in this area in the next several years will go a long way to determining how much we are all able to take advantage of the potential of wireless broadband technologies.

Broadband Public Safety Data Networks in the 4.9 GHz Band:Potential, Pitfalls & Promise Tropos authors drill down on the potential of using the Public Safety spectrum to bring wireless broadband to a community.

Four Scenarios for TV Spectrum In this intriguing analysis, David Isenberg explores different scenarios based on how the spectrum currently allocated to analog television broadcasters is treated by the FCC. What will they do to open up this new territory? In a sense, we are at a threshold not unlike when the federal government looked to open up new geographic territory in the development of this country one hundred years ago.

1994 Keynote Interview on Spectrum Availability This intriguing interview by the founder of Metricom, a company before its time that tried and failed to provide wireless broadband at the end of the Millenium, will take some time to get through, but it's like one of those dusty finds from up in the attic. When I found this on Google and read through it, I thought I should share it with you - for those who really want to dive deep on this topic.

Posted on February 03, 2006 at 06:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Spectrum Policy Program

The New America Foundation's Spectrum Policy Program challenges FCC Spectrum Policy and I found it to be a rich source of information on spectrum policy and how it affects the potential of wireless broadband. According to the site:

To promote a more fair and efficient allocation of the airwaves, New America's Spectrum Policy Program opposes efforts to privatize the airwaves and advocates requiring commercial licensees to pay fair market value for their use of the spectrum. The revenues from such auctions can best be used to meet civic and educational needs. The Program also promotes greater shared citizen access to the airwaves - particularly for wireless broadband networking with unlicensed consumer devices - and the protection of the Internet's open and unmediated end-to-end architecture. In these and other ways, New America seeks to help preserve, update, and expand the public interest obligations of our nation's communications infrastructure in the digital era.

I highly recommend these three informative publications from NAF:

Citizen's Guide to the Airwaves

Radio Revolution, the Coming Age of Unlicensed Wireless, and finally,

The Cartoon Guide to Federal Spectrum Policy, which is a little more on the lighter side (a challenge when dealing with a topic like spectrum!)

Posted on May 25, 2005 at 04:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack