| One lesson of Hurricane Katrina and the terrible chaotic aftermath is this: The public needs direct, unlicensed access to cheap, robust communications. The FCC can make this happen. A portion of the analog TV spectrum that will be clawed back from broadcasters in the next several years should be made license-free. Let the technical circus""that world of geeks, entrepreneurs, companies and venture capitalists""seek profits by making a mass market of super-duper WiMax gear. This will make future communications blackouts, like that which helped to cripple rescuers in New Orleans, much less likely.
WiMax (formally, radios compliant with the IEEE 802.16 specification) is like Wi-Fi, but it goes five miles or more. Super-duper WiMax is my name for WiMax of the future. With extra frequencies, it will work even better, as far as distance, line-of-sight issues and obstacle penetration go. |
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At mediachannel.org
At mediachannel.org
