back to article FCC's 5G masterstroke little more than big biz cash giveaway – expert

The latest effort by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to expand 5G networks across the United States is little more than a cash giveaway to large telcos and will grow, rather than close, the digital divide. That's the opinion of telco expert, author of the United States' National Broadband Plan, and a man credited …

  1. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Spazturtle Silver badge

      Re: It's a G thing

      5Gs biggest improvements are in spectral efficiency and coverage, speed improvements are not the key feature.

      So 5G will make it easier to cover rural areas and also reduce the number of towers you need in a city saving money allowing more to be spend on rural areas.

      1. stiine Silver badge
        Unhappy

        Re: It's a G thing

        You've got that backwards, 5G will require 10-20 times more towers that 3G/4G.

      2. JohnFen

        Re: It's a G thing

        "reduce the number of towers you need in a city saving money allowing more to be spend on rural areas."

        The chances that those savings would be reallocated to rural areas are approximately zero. That money will just get added to the profit taken.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm shocked

    A corporate stooge running the FCC results in the FCC making policies that favor corporations? Who could have possibly foreseen such an outcome?

    1. Youngone Silver badge

      Re: I'm shocked

      To be fair to the FCC, it is not the only group in the US government system that spends its time finding new ways to improve corporate profits.

      The Pentagon is another one which springs to mind.

      For what it's worth, I think AT&T have a point about Verizon's 5g tech also. It has been proved repeatedly that standards are a good thing for everyone. Can anyone remember CDMA?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I'm shocked

        I wasn't suggesting otherwise. That's rife throughout the executive branch, and not just limited to this administration, or the current party in charge. I just find it ironic when Trump was promising to "drain the swamp". He could have at least tried, instead of simply lying about it and filling the swamp to the brim with the usual creatures.

        It was interesting though that the previous FCC commissioner, despite the sort of industry connections that would typically mean he's hopelessly compromised, was on the side of consumers instead of the industry. I was certainly not happy with his appointment given his background... I have to think that was an accident, I doubt Obama knew that going in. Probably just got lucky he evidently didn't plan on trying to get another cable industry job after his FCC tenure was up.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Which bullshit exactly?

    The FCC is due to vote on a plan that would cap the fees that state and local governments can charge for the deployment of 5G cells across the nation

    "The principal impact of the FCC’s action is to facilitate a large transfer of wealth from the public to private enterprises..."

    So, now not paying a tax is a wealth transfer? That's not your money in your pocket. We're just letting you keep some of it!

    THAT's bullshit.

  4. ma1010
    Mushroom

    What did you expect?

    As long as Big Telco's hollow little sock puppet, Ajit Pai, is running the FCC, there will be nothing but more subsidize-big-corporations-and-screw-the-citizens bullshit from them. This move is exactly in line with everything else that Pai has done from day one. He's an ass-sucking sycophant of Big Telco and the sworn enemy of everyone else in America. Probably the single worst appointment Trump ever made.

  5. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "By using our proprietary 5G technology"

    So, Verizon admits that it's tech is proprietary, and chooses to ridicule AT&T instead of describing why it's tech is not going to be a drag on users connections between networks.

    I wonder if we are ever going to get adult-level discussion instead of these wannabe prom queen tactics.

    Probably not.

  6. CPU

    Wow, sounds like the oldest telco excuse in the world has been rolled out yet again (can't roll out POTS, can't roll out 2-4G, can't rollout internet, because it costs too much.. unless you live in the Metro).

  7. EnviableOne

    American Revisionists

    Hmm AT&T first in the world?

    Ooredoo, a large mobile network operator in Qatar, launched the first commercial 5G network in the world as of May 2018 in 3.5 GHz band

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