Telecommies

crossposted from PCMag

WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters ) - U.S. communications regulators are considering auctioning a piece of the airwaves to buyers willing to provide free broadband Internet service without pornography.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is proposing to auction an unused piece of 25 megahertz wireless spectrum, with the condition that the winning bidder offer free Internet access and filter out obscene content on part of those airwaves, a spokesman for the FCC said on Thursday.

“We’re hoping there will be increased interest in the proposal; and because this will provide wireless broadband services to more Americans, it is certainly something we want to see,” said FCC spokesman Rob Kenny.

Why is the FCC considering this strange regulation? Apparently the 25 megahertz wireless spectrum isn’t that desirable in the first place.

The 25 MHz spectrum at issue is not viewed as highly attractive to wireless carriers, unlike the 700 MHz spectrum auctioned by the FCC earlier this year. There has been little previous interest in it, aside from the M2Z proposal.

This is weird…

White House Issues Regulation
A Date to Celebrate

Deadline by Ted Hearn - crossposted from MulitChannel News.

Washington—White House chief of staff Joshua Bolton has issued a memo saying he doesn’t want cabinet departments or agencies to issue any new regulations after November 1.

Bolton issued the directive in a May 9 memorandum addressed to “the heads of executive departments and agencies.” It was unclear whether Bolton’s memo included “independent” agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission.

Bolton said the purpose of the memo was to remind administration officials to “resist the historical tendency of administrations to increase regulatory activity in their final months.” President Bush is scheduled to leave office in 243 days. (… more)

Some people might ask, ‘Well, at $500 a share, why can’t Google pay for special treatment?’ The reality is that at $500 a share Google can afford to pay. Yet the reality is that this is precisely the wrong question to ask. Instead, the question is whether Larry Page and Sergei Brin — the two young founders of Google — could have paid when they were mere grad students launching their idea. (Betanews)

-Congressman Markey (D-MA) rationalizing his bill to regulate the internet last week

Good news congressman, web hosting is way below $500… on the downside, unlike your bill, the internet still requires a good idea.

For more, see Reason’s More Net Neutrality Nonsense.

Verizon’s pinned down by state regulations in Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey. Existing telecom regulations leave Verizon unable to compete with Comcast for internet service.

While modern, cost-conscious, consumers move their home phone service over to internet carriers, Verizon suffers. Why? Traditional phone providers are heavily regulated in these states, while internet service isn’t. Functionally, Verizon is limited strictly to traditional phone service, even as phone service moves online. The Baltimore Business Journal explains:

The Maryland Public Service Commission oversees basic public utilities, including phone services. Under state regulation, Verizon needs state approval for rate increases or the addition of new services. But states like Maryland have no authority over cable and Internet or wireless phone providers, which are monitored by the federal government.

By rolling its phone services into packages that give consumers cable and Internet or by providing phone service through an Internet connection, Comcast and Vonage avoid state oversight.

This means, for example, Verizon can’t do one of those popular high-speed internet and phoneThese backwards rules hurt both the provider and the consumer. A Verizon Maryland spokeswoman commented:

“It’s time our state moves forward by bringing telecommunications regulation up to speed with the market,… [It’s] a market where most competitors face little to no regulation.”