FCC to auction off 700MHz spectrum

If the thought of wireless spectrum doesn't get you excited, surely the thought of Internets flying through those same airwaves does. The FCC has announced the spectrum auction to end all spectrum auctions: the body plans to auction off the highly-coveted 700MHz band that is being vacated by television broadcasters as they make the move to digital TV broadcasts. The FCC is rightfully calling this the "most valuable available slice of radio-frequency spectrum" and it hopes to fetch as much "as much as $15 billion." That may sound like a cartoonish figure but rest assured, wireless providers and broadband ISPs alike are amassing the necessary cash while we speak. Why should you care? The FCC's chairman Kevin Martin has been quoted as saying that he hopes the option will create a "third pipe to the home," bringing "affordable broadband to all Americans."

For more on the auction:
- see this Information Week article