[consume-thenet] from this evenings NTK: (fwd)

[Eugene Leitl]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 18:15:53 +0100
From: Alex Hewson <alex@tui.co.uk>
Reply-To: consume-thenet@lists.consume.net, Alex Hewson <alex@tui.co.uk>
To: consume-thenet@lists.consume.net
Subject: [consume-thenet] from this evenings NTK:


         Last week was the closing date for comments for the
         government's "Independent Spectrum Review". Usually we leave
         all this radio stuff to the hams (the geeks). But from a
         Netty point of view, the review responses say a lot about
         how folk are responding to the cheapo wireless net
         connections built by 802.11b hackers like Consume.Net. The
         3G companies don't look scared (not as scared as those
         Bluetooth guys, anyway), but, boy, would they rather it all
         went away. "The market and value of [our] licensed spectrum
         is distorted", insists Hutchison, if those mini-ISPs with
         their funny beards and Apple AirPorts are allowed to
         compete. Fortunately for Hutchison, it's illegal for them to
         compete. In a ruling that would drive RMS nuts, 802.11a
         users aren't allowed to share their Net connection
         wirelessly with anyone but their own. And the authorities,
         embarassed about bankrupting most of the big telcos with
         that 3G auction, look likely to keep to that rule - even
         though most other countries are more liberal. The nice
         government's preferred compromise seems to be: shuffle all
         the WLAN crazies off the 2.4Mhz network to 5GHz where, they
         say, ISPs will be allowed. That sounds good to the 3G folk,
         because the 5Ghz 802.11a hardware isn't around yet, so they
         can beat the hackers to the wireless broadband punch.  Also,
         802.11a's range doesn't spread as far as 802.11b, so the ISP
         idea's doomed anyway. Meanwhile, the Starbucks-with-wireless
         Net access springing up over the US remain verboten in
         Britain.  Guess the UK'll have to wait for our wireless
         bandwidth until the nice kindly corp's are ready for us.
         http://www.interesting-people.org/200108/0190.html
         - not as bad as the tsk-tsking free-marketeers make it sound
         http://www.spectrumreview.radio.gov.uk/
               - although it'd help to have a Net guy on these panels
         http://www.smag.radio.gov.uk/index.htm
                                           - with the other smagheads





Can I grow a funny beard too?



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