Microsoft and Google are working together to support the FCC's free Wi-Fi
proposal that might mean you could dump that monthly cellphone bill.
How sweet would it be to dump that monthly cellphone bill in favor of making
calls over free Wi-Fi networks, so powerful it would be like "Wi-Fi on
steroids"? Microsoft and Google are working together to support the FCC's
powerful Wi-Fi for free proposal. As a bonus, Super Wi-Fi is also "super for
improving how we transmit and distribute energy in America." However, as you
might imagine, wireless carriers are fit to be tied and doing their best to put
a stop to providing such free access.
Of course, it's not the first time that the Microsoft-Google team — now there's
a phrase you don't see very often — joined forces. In 2007, Microsoft, Google,
Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Philips came together to give FCC officials a
"free phone" prototype device built by Microsoft. The FCC later rejected the
white space device. Microsoft had wanted to be named an administrator to rule
the white spaces, but so did Google. Microsoft came up with Wi-Fi over narrow
channels which the company called WiFi-NC last year. In February 2012,
Microsoft, Google and hundreds of other nonprofit groups and companies urged
Congress not to restrict the FCC's authority to structure proposed spectrum
auctions.
Now, the Washington Post, which has jumped on the "Chinese-hacked-us-too"
bandwagon, reported that Google, Microsoft and other tech giants "say a
free-for-all WiFi service would spark an explosion of innovations and devices
that would benefit most Americans, especially the poor."
The airwaves that FCC officials want to hand over to the public would be much
more powerful than existing WiFi networks that have become common in households.
They could penetrate thick concrete walls and travel over hills and around
trees. If all goes as planned, free access to the Web would be available in just
about every metropolitan area and in many rural areas.
The new WiFi networks would also have much farther reach, allowing for a
driverless car to communicate with another vehicle a mile away or a patient's
heart monitor to connect to a hospital on the other side of town.
Meanwhile, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and chip makers Intel and Qualcomm are
lobbying hard against the FCC's proposal. In fact, AT&T announced that it,
Verizon and T-Mobile had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the
Department of Defense "to test the viability of sharing 95 MHz of spectrum that
is currently used by DoD and other federal agencies. This spectrum is located in
the 1755 to 1850 MHz spectrum band, which NTIA has analyzed in great detail for
potential clearing and sharing opportunities." These wireless carrier companies
are opposed to using the spectrum for free Wi-Fi to the public and insist that
the airwaves should instead be sold to businesses.
But FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has designed the free Wi-Fi plan. If you are
interested, you can read Genachowski's Presentation on White Spaces for Wireless
Broadband and Genachowski's remarks to the President's Council of Advisors on
Science & Technology. He told the Washington Post, "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."
As Neowin pointed out, Microsoft and Google want more devices connecting to
their cloud services such as Microsoft's new Office 365, dubbed as "Your
complete office in the cloud."
It would seem as if law enforcement would be vehemently opposed to such free
Wi-Fi. After all, law enforcement has a gold mine when it comes to spying via
wireless carriers. In 2011, the cops collected a staggering 1.3 million customer
records. Innocent Americans get caught in dragnet surveillance via cell tower
dumps. The ACLU has warned that location tracking is out of control.
Additionally, the ACLU uncovered "new" law enforcement/mobile carrier spying
deals, such as "voicemail cloning, copying existing voicemail to a different
account, resetting voicemail PIN, or the Verizon smorgasbord for law enforcement
mobile/landline spying." It seems the feds hope to replace warrantless GPS
tracking with warrantless cell phone surveillance. But on the other hand, even
with free and powerful wireless networks, cell phones wouldn't go away entirely.
Besides, as it stands now with ECPA, the cloud is the cloud and any info stored
there is not private, but is a favorite surveillance hunting ground used by law
enforcement. Also, keep in mind that when an online service is "free," it is
because you are the product. Just the same, let's hope the Microsoft/Google
"team force" can help bring on the free Wi-Fi on steroids!
