The agency wants to dedicate a swath of airwaves that any company or person can tap freely to create products, such as cars that can communicate with each other over long distances or powerful WiFi networks that allow users to access the Internet across an entire town.
Cities have expressed interest in using these airwaves to create free WiFi service for residents or tourists. Businesses such as Google or even a local coffeehouse might do the same for consumers, but they would have to build and pay for the infrastructure to create WiFi “hot spots,” which would then provide access to the Web.
What is “free” is access to these public, or unlicensed, airwaves. By comparison, for instance, AT&T charges its customers a monthly fee to use its wireless service because the company spent billions to license the right to those airwaves.
As the story noted, the first time the agency pulled the trigger on a similar idea, numerous products were created, such as garage door openers, baby monitors and TV remote controls out of surplus bandwidth or “junk band.”
Read also:
Is Free Public WiFi Possible? (Huffington Post (blog))
Jeff Gelles: 'Free' public WiFi part of larger networking vision (Philadelphia Inquirer)
FCC Plan for Free WiFi Super Highway Boosts Interest In Debate (eWeek)
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