FCC Sets Rules For Some In-Flight Radio Auctions
Stephen Lawson writes in InfoWorld:
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Friday took one step closer to introducing competition in the air-to-ground radio band now used for the seatback phones seen on most airplanes.
The agency set rules for a planned auction that should result in at least two service providers competing in the 800MHz band. Services could include voice, data services and broadband Internet access, the FCC has said.
The spectrum at stake, a band 4MHz wide, today is licensed exclusively by Verizon Communications Inc. for its Airfone service, which uses narrowband phones installed in seatbacks. That service has not lived up to expectations because it is expensive, limited to voice and not often used, Commissioner Michael Copps said in a statement last December when the FCC decided to auction off the spectrum. At that time, the agency granted Verizon a five-year, non-renewable extension of its license but ordered the carrier to eventually fit the Airfone service into just 1MHz of the band.
posted by Fergie @ 12/10/2005 10:50:00 AM
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