Independent ISPs and phone services may soon have no way “home”. Cable
is out. DSL services may soon get similar exclusivity to the phone
operator if the FCC's Kevin Martin gets his way. Unlicensed broadband
wireless – at 5.8 GHz – may be their only hope to deliver competitive
services in the United States.
From the 1960's until the day President Bush took office, writes Thomas Bleha,
“The United States led the world in Internet development.” In the first
three years of the Bush administration, the United States dropped from
4th to 13th place. Now it's 16th.
In 2001, Robert Crandall, an economist at the Brookings Institution estimated that “widespread” adoption of basic broadband in the United States could add $500 billion to the U.S. economy and produce 1.2 million new jobs. [Daily Wireless]