How would you like a US$100 device that allows you to make free, wireless, local phone calls? If the Federal Communications Commission grants Apple Computer's request to create a new band of frequencies for the unlicensed transmission of high-capacity, wireless data, anybody will be able to use it for a variety of high-speed communication applications.
Jim Warren, a magazine columnist and Net-based public-access advocate, says the political arguments for granting Apple's request are persuasive. "For the Republicans," Warren says, "this represents free-market competition." And, he continues, the Democrats won't be able to resist the lure of a free communications alternative for the people.
James Lovette, a principal scientist for Apple and one of the petition's authors, is quick to point out that anyone attempting to put the local telcos out of business faces some pretty big technological hurdles. But he's optimistic about the immediate benefit of making a huge block of spectrum public. "A community could have a point-of-presence for getting to the Net," he says. "Schools and hospitals might be able to connect to that point - without wires. And they wouldn't be paying for anything until they got to the service provider." Information: www.warpspeed.com/.
ELECTRIC WORD
Universal Free Wireless Service!
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