Free WiFi Across America: It's a Real Possibility

The FCC is proposing a WiFi supernetwork

"The federal government wants to create super WiFi networks across the nation, so powerful and broad in reach that consumers could use them to make calls or surf the Internet without paying a cellphone bill every month." That's the utopian vision brought to us by the Washington Post, introducing the FCC's plan to bring free WiFi to the masses.

Naturally the wireless industry is not in favor of a plan that sounds likely to lose them paying customers. Major players from the $178 billion industry, including AT&T and Cisco, are lobbying against the proposal, which they claim could interfere with existing wireless signals or TV broadcasts.

Those favoring free WiFi say that it will spark an explosion of innovation, similar to when the government opened up a small segment of unlicensed airwaves in 1985, which led to the invention of baby monitors, garage door openers and wireless microphones. "Freeing up unlicensed spectrum is a vibrantly free-market approach that offers low barriers to entry to innovators developing the technologies of the future and benefits consumers," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

The plan would provide free wireless access in virtually all cities and many rural areas. And the airwaves used would be much more powerful than ordinary WiFi, providing signal that could travel through concrete and land masses.

Via the Washington Post.

Do you back the FCC's plan to offer free wireless across the nation?

[RobertJHarsh]

Sounds good on paper....of course only guv-ment approved website and CP sites will the only things allow to be one it. And of course Facebook, Twitter, and Google will get to be on it as well. No anonymous access either. You'll have to fill out tons of forms, probably with a background check in order to get access.

I'll keep paying for cell service. You at least need to them to get records for you. No ready access for the feds...yet...

[sevenSecrets]

how many forms do you have to fill, how many background checks, security clearances do you get before you listen to the radio broadcast in your car? these were all the same fears people had with free airwaves. same concept different technology. and you know there will be tons of interest groups lobbying for the privacy right. its so easy to doom and gloom.

[Troshie]

@sevenSecrets Content is censored on the radio though. I'm sure the FCC would censor wifi aswell. But that's ok, I'd love to drop cellphone service in favor of skype. I'll use my home network for everything else.

[RobertJHarsh]

@sevenSecrets That's apples and oranges...not even close.

[dances-weebles]

don't you think that this is only a little paranoid?

[hertz_doughnut]

Years ago I contemplated a neighborhood network where I left my router free and blue tooth's unprotected. I thought of a free internet without Obama or Chinese rules. I thank God for this Evil man as else I may have never believed in self determination. Even now I leave my router open as this gives me plausible deniability for downloading all three versions of the Anarchist's Cookbook. That's a trigger word and know this website is being watched.

[DerivePI]

Is this before or after free health care for all?

[Dan_Tien]

Free health care for all is unfair competition with health insurance providers by government. Free wi-fi for all is not unfair competition.

[hwyangel]

This is something I pay for anyway. And the biggest wireless providers are all big financial supporters of women's reproductive rights and Gay rights. So they would just be cutting off their nose to spite their face anyway, lol

[marine1]

@hwyangel My biggest concern might be , what has the goverment EVER done efficiently and effectively for any period of time? I can see all kinds of
$250.00 toilet seats coming in to play.

[Dan_Tien]

@marine1 "what has the goverment EVER done efficiently and effectively for any period of time". Collecting taxes?

[marine1]

@Dan_Tien I can't believe " I " forgot that one, I must be getting olderestest than I thought.

[Yank]

There is no such this as "free" WiFi. Somebody has got to pay for it.

[LGRepublican]

Isn't funny how the stuff that's "free" always seems to end up costing the most.....

[fistv]

Oh yea, more 'free stuff' from the Obama stash fund. Loving this $.15 cent a gallon increase in gas over the last week.

[thatgirl]

@fistv Because, of course, the govt is responsible for fluctuations in the oil market, right? Please.

[dances-weebles]

@fistv and guess what... you still pay a lot less for gasoline than i do. so what? i say that if you don't want to pay for gasoline, then you should use mass transit.

[dances-weebles]

@thatgirl people tend to believe that mr. obama set's the oil prices.

[martydotcom]

Nothing is free . How are installation and maintenance costs going to be paid for?
Companies like Comcast & Time Warner will lose millions in revenue . Stockholder reaction? Lobbyists should be able to buy to buy enough votes to kill it

[Fitz]

I do not see the good in this. Provided by the government, and controlled by the government.

[Denizen_Kate]

I'm wondering exactly how the government would control it. Any ideas on that?

[GunPolitics]

@Denizen_Kate why does this idea make think of Enders game - whichever book had to do with his brother and sister after he went to train...

[Arumizy]

Deepen the peoples dependency on the government and you increase the control they have over them.

[JVJx]

Stupid. Would screw internet providers and May cause job loss

[harold_lloyd]

When they say,"...AT&T and Cisco, are lobbying against the proposal..."

What they mean is this

https://www.youtube.com/watch...

There's Big Money at stake here, and no expense will be spared to keep it.

[Russell797]

And the anti-progress, I'm against it crowed comes out in force.

[Medicinebow]

I'm not against progress..not even close. I'm concerned about the "free" part. Nothing is "free".

[LGRepublican]

@Medicinebow Not to mention what sorts of strings will be attached with the privilege of using this "free" service. There's ALWAYS strings....

[PoliticalSpice]

Yea, they'd rather blame obama for high prices then allow govt to provide the services free...

[Medicinebow]

@PoliticalSpice Who's blaming anyone? I'm not. Although I believe such service is slightly over priced i'm not assigning any blame. The government doesn't provide "free" services.

[Russell797]

I am not up on the technology to be utilized in bringing this about, but certainly new infrastructure built by the private sector (payed for by the government) will have to be put in place. We live in the information age, the greater the availability to information the better informed will our population be. There are many a backwater in this country where people have few options to choose from in seeking out information. The government builds a roadway system for free access to travel, the government can also promote the development of a free information highway system. Both systems can and will expand our horizons.

[Cheenoguy]

I think it's a great idea for the future but right now we have bigger fish to fry. If we are going to continue to build up debt, and we will, lets spend that money investing in our future rather then making billionaires in the military industrial complex richer.

[Quick]

No such things as "free"

[Medicinebow]

I wonder how much this freebie will cost?

[Knightkore]

Obamanet? Oy....we're still trying to untangle and possibly repeal Obamacare....while the idea of "free" WiFi....is tempting....government control over the internet is dangerous at best....China, Iran....{facepalm}....

[seedtick]

One thing, though...ask how we can filter our computers from things lurking out there. I the government cannot protect the Pentagon computer net, they damned sure cannot protect all of us. And, what controls will be put onto this system to let big brother decide what is to be accessed? Just food for thought.

[seedtick]

One other thing....will this be their way to tax the internet? Will there be a federal logon fee? What equipment will we need...such as modems furnished by a poliitical cronie?

[dances-weebles]

hopefully no controls at all... just like the major wifi sites in cities like nyc, and citywide wifi systems in many places. nobody is 'protecting' you now, why should that change?

[seedtick]

@dances-weebles Well, How do you think countries like Iran and China control their internet service? Or North Korea? They can flip a switch, so to speak, and shut it down. Look at systems like AT&T U-Verse...you can filter things you don't want. I'm not saying that our government wants to control our use of the internet...but, this is a first step in that direction. Right now we enjoy free use of the internet without great government control because ISPs compete for our business...that is known as free enterprise and we have very reliable service because of that competition. Considering the mindset of present administration in Washington DC, we know that free enterprise is not agreeable to their end goals. And, I guess poor ole Al Gore is still complaining that he did not get his "royalties." LOL

[dances-weebles]

@seedtick there was a time when internet communication was only for government and banking use. now look at it.

and i'm getting heartily sick of people spouting this dogma about 'the current administration' wanting to 'take over the world'. joe biden and mr. obama are definitely not pinky and the brain.(that was more like bush/cheney)

[seedtick]

@dances-weebles Be cool now, Weebles. I did not say that the current administration wanted to "take over the world." But, remember, Reverend Jeremiah Wright's congregation member, Barack Husssein Obama, has been in power for four whole years...everything belongs to him and him alone. And, we are told everyday that all of this "good stuff" being done is his doing. Well, most of us have enjoyed all of this "good stuff" we can stand.

[Your_Name_Here]

I am waiting for the government to buy up all the cows in the USA and make all the people on welfare milk them and give everyone free milk. There, am I dumb enough to be president yet?

[jessejaymes]

This creates a real dilemma for cash strapped Americans doesn't it? You can dump that 99.00 a month phone bill/internet bill and let the govt run the system which means just like China the govt will censor the net "for the good of all". You can say you support no more porn to protect the children. Then when the govt swoops on your child for downloading an illegal movie you'll be pissed at what it costs you to get out of that one. When the govt can't protect you from hacker groups you'll be bent. Imagine, right now those hacker groups can get in pretty much anywhere they want but you're not at real great risk because there are so many services around the country that it's just bad luck if they happen to stumble onto you personally. Not so with a govt wi fi. EVERYTHING is all neatly bundled for the hackers on one service. They have EVERYTHING once they hack that. And you don't suppose our govt would expand their warrant-less listening in on our phones to include everything on the Wi Fi do you?

No thanks.

[DARSB]

I've long been of the opinion that Internet access should be treated the same as any other public utility, like water and electricity.(The European Union classes Internet access as a right - http://goo.gl/ZMDpf .) I can see lots of advantages for people to free access to information, and I can see lots of discomfort for political powers as a result of that access.

Early attempts for set up municipal LANs and WANs didn't do so well, though. I am encouraged by Google's fiber rollout in Kansas (and actively sought by the city of St Louis). I think the FCC idea needs further exploration, principally because the WiMax technology isn't mature enough to fill the need just yet.

[Medicinebow]

I'd have to see the details of such a plan. Hopefully we won't have to pass a bill to see whats inside :) I'd like to know what protections would be in place and what it would really "cost".

[DARSB]

@Medicinebow Agreed - the details always make a difference.

[SmedleyButler]

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.

[Buzzfriendly]

What a twofer for the government. More taxes and ease of spying on you and me. Thanks, but no thanks.

[PoliticalSpice]

They already have total freedom to spy on the net and read e-mail. Repeal patriot, homeland security laws, fisa and nsa of 1947, otherwise at least have them provide the service free, since they already spy...

[Dan_Tien]

@PoliticalSpice The Patriot Act does provide the government legal permission to spy on the net. Creating a country-wide WiFi network would make it simpler to monitor people who deliberately stay off of the net.

[PoliticalSpice]

@Dan_Tien If you don't use the net how does having wi- fi enable them to spy on you? I am not a techie, but this makes no sense to me, its almost as if you are saying they can read someting you write even if you never write it. Please educate me on this.

[Dan_Tien]

@PoliticalSpice The most obvious result in making WiFi free is that people who do not use the internet because it costs money would be more likely to access it. Besides that, there are already a number of WiFi enabled devices that you may not be aware of: Rovio: a Wi-Fi-ready robot, WiFi embedded remote controls, WiFi embedded SD cards, WiFi ECG monitors and WiFi camcorders. Those are just the consumer products. Devices created specifically for covert surveillance include CCTVs, listening devices, DVR recorders, GPS trackers, and so on.

If government provided WiFi becomes the standard, freely available, country wide network, users will be easy to monitor and inhabited locations that do not tap into the network could be flagged and tagged for involuntary surveillance (remember that Osama bin Laden's hideaway in Pakistan was located partly because it did not radiate any sort of electronic signature). With the wider acceptance of WiFi embedded devices in more and more applications, you could never really be sure which devices are working for you, or working for someone else. It will also make bug sweeping much more difficult to perform, since so many devices will be communicating with the net.

Paranoid conspiracy you say? Search Total Information Awareness (TIA).

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/15/magazine/15...

[PoliticalSpice]

@Dan_Tien OK, but the free wifi only applies to those who choose to use the net. The additional info about devices etc, well they can do that anyway. So people who want to avoid the surveillence still just need stay off the net, except for the other devices, which are embedded anyway....

[MarkJM]

First off, those mashed potatoes in the picture look mighty tasty. Secondly, it's not "free" as they like to advertise. No doubt we'll see our taxes go up as a result of this, well those that work and pay taxes will see less money. Meanwhile the TAKERS (i.e. the LEECHES) will hoot and holler over another freebie they undoubtedly did not earn. It's a novel concept and it would open the floodgates of innovation yet again, but in this economy where we are Trillions in debt, we should focus on paying off the bills before we go off spending like drunken sailors again...oh wait....CONgress.....

[Food4thoughts]

My vote up was for the mash potatoes ;-)

[mimi57]

ummmm...I may be wrong, but I think those are mugs of hot chocolate with whipped
cream and nutmeg/ cinnamon on top.( ;

[MarkJM]

@mimi57 It is, it is hot chocolate w/whipped cream and nutmeg/cinnamon....lol

[mimi57]

@MarkJM (: So, you like mashed potatoes. eh?... lol

[MarkJM]

@mimi57 of course, with gravy